Hannah Schwarz | The Lance

Chad Gillaspy, junior, dunks the ball against William Jewell. The Crusaders wrapped up a second place season finish with the win.

Nationals approach for Crusaders

Basketball books a bid to compete in national tournament

By Charlie Williams
ASST. SPORTS EDITOR

The Evangel men’s basketball team (19-11, 15-5) won its last four games to finish second in the Heart of America Athletics Conference (HAAC). By virtue of this finish, the Crusaders earned a berth in the NAIA Division 1 National Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. Wednesday night they also beat Benedictine University 85-63.

After an 83-80 win at home over William Jewell College on Feb. 25, Evangel closed regular season play with a win at Avila University Saturday afternoon.

“We played well last week as a team and were able to walk away with two wins,” Spud Harbour, junior guard, said.

Leading Avila 42-39 at halftime, the Crusaders came out strong in the second half to blow open the game and get the win at Avila. Harbour went on a ten-point scoring frenzy during a 14-5 run by Evangel to begin the second half. The Crusaders led the game by as much as 21 points with six minutes remaining in the game before Avila chipped the lead down to eleven as Evangel won 86-75.

“Even though we have the tie-breaking advantage over both Jewell and Lindenwood, we wanted to keep our outright hold on second place by defeating Avila,” Coach Steve Jenkins said. “It took a strong second-half performance, but we managed to defeat the Eagles and finish the conference race with a 15-5 record and second place.”

Harbour led Crusader scoring with 20 points on 8-15 shooting as he earned his fourth HAAC player of the week honor this season. Junior forward Chad Gillaspy added 14 points and 9 rebounds, while junior center Mike Storey came off the bench and finished with 13 points.

“We had a very strong finish to the regular season by winning two crucial games last week,” Jenkins said. “We open the conference tournament with Benedictine University at home, and they pose some real challenges for us.”

In Wednesday night’s HAAC Conference Tournament opener, Evangel and Benedictine played a tight first half entering the locker room with a 39-33 Crusader advantage. In the second half, the teams traded baskets for the opening minutes before Evangel’s defensive pressure took over, and the Crusaders pulled away for a 85-63 victory.

“They played us agressivly and knocked down several shots early on in the game,” Jenkins said. “It is hard to beat a team three times in a single season, and we were fortunate enough to be able to do that against Benedictine.”

Harbour led all scorers in the game with 29 points, while sophomore guard Mitch McHenry and Storey added 14 points and 11 points respectably. The Crusaders play in the semifinals of the conference tournament tonight at 7 p.m. in the Ashcroft Center.