A J.J. Williams lay-up with 11 seconds left in overtime lifted 11th ranked Evangel over 23rd ranked Culver-Stockton Saturday in a 79-78 win.
Williams scored a lay-up on the right side of the basket and drew a foul on the play but missed his free throw the followed. Evangel hung on as Marshawn Norris’ 22-foot shot at the buzzer from in front of the three-point arc missed off of the heel of the rim.Near the end of regulation, Stephen Cotten helped Evangel get to overtime when he scored a basket and converted a three-point play with a free throw with 20 seconds left to tie the game at 71. The Wildcats final possession in regulation ended as Williams forced a tie-up on the ball with 2.4 seconds remaining giving the Crusaders the ball on a change of possession. Norris would deflect the ball from Williams as time expired sending the game to overtime.
Cotten finished the game with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Victor Agbasi added 14 while Brodie Wingert had 13 for Evangel as they picked up their eighth win in a row.
Austin Keaton had 19 points to lead Culver-Stockton while Jermaine Jones had 16 and Norris added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Crusaders improve to 21-5 and 14-2 in the conference while dropping Culver-Stockton to 21-7 and 12-3 in the league
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The win keeps Evangel in first place in the Heart of America conference as they continue to own a one-game lead over MidAmerica Nazarene, who also won Saturday with a 78-77 win over Missouri Valley.
The Crusaders host the Pioneers on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Ashcroft Center and can clinch the regular season championship with a win.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
| Feb. 16 at Ashcroft CTR | FINAL |
| #23 Culver-Stockton (21-7, 12-3) | 78 |
| #11 CRUSADERS (21-5, 14-2) | 79 OT |
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