FAYETTE, Mo. – The No. 20 Central Methodist University men's basketball program was unable to put together a comeback run as they fell to Evangel University in a conference contest at home on Tuesday evening.
The Eagles trailed by three at the intermission but the comeback mission was plagued by a string of turnovers in the opening five minutes of the second frame.
Seth Stegeman (SR/Jefferson City, Mo.) led the way offensively with 17 points after going 6-for-14 from the field. He also led the Eagles on the boards with seven defensive rebounds. Josh Robinson (SR/Normal, Ill.) tacked on 13 points and dished out six assists while Jake Branham (FR/Springfield, Mo.) came off the bench to contribute 12 tallies. Kyle McDermed (JR/Frankfort, Ill.) rounded out the top performers with 10 points.
As a team, Central was held to just 38.9% shooting from the floor while the Crusaders shot 59.6% on the night and went 10-for-14 from beyond the arc. The Eagles won the offensive battle on the glass with a 14-3 advantage but surrendered 18 points on 14 turnovers.
Up next for the squad will be a home conference contest against Missouri Valley on Monday, December 2nd. Tipoff time is set for 7:30 PM in Puckett Fieldhouse.
