Box Score
Video Recap |
Rustin Dowd and
Luke Thomas had big games in MNU's 78-64 victory over #11 Evangel on Thursday. In a battle of first-place teams, Evangel came to Olathe with an impressive resume. The Crusaders have wins over Rogers State (who has beaten MNU twice this year) and then-#1 Oklahoma Baptist. The game was tied at 11 after 7 minutes when
Conner Langrehr and
Justin Collard sparked a 10-1 run. The pair alternated baskets for 2 minutes and gave MNU a 9-point lead. Evangel rallied to close the gap to 3 at the end of the half, but
Rustin Dowd nailed a 3 in the final seconds to give MNU a 38-32 lead.
Dowd continued his torrid pace and took over the opening minutes of the second half. Back-to-back short bank shots followed by a fast-break 3-pointer pushed the lead to 10, giving Dowd 10 straight points. He then found Langrehr for another 3 before recording a steal and leading the break on the ensuing possession. A contested 3 and another fast break assist pushed the lead to 18, and Evangel couldn't recover. Dowd had a hand in 20 straight Pioneer points in the 4-minute stretch.
In a battle of the top post players in the HAAC, MNU's
Luke Thomas came up huge. He recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds while holding Evangel's Stephen Cotten to 0 points and 2 rebounds. Evangel didn't get closer than 13 points down the stretch and MNU cruised to the finish.
Rustin Dowd led all scorers with 21 points. He also had a game-high 5 assists.
Justin Collard had 13 points off the bench.
Conner Langrehr hit 4 threes for 12 points.
Luke Thomas had 11 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. And
Jacob French had 11 points and 5 rebounds.
The Pioneers are 15-5 (7-1 HAAC). The next game is Saturday at Culver-Stockson (14-6, 5-3) at 4:00.
