Springfield, Mo. - The Central Methodist Men's Basketball team fell to the Evangel Valor in the Heart Tournament Quarterfinals, 87-84 Thursday night in Springfield, Mo.
The Eagles see their postseason run come to an end with a final record of 17-12. Evangel improves to 22-7 and advance to the semifinals where they will face No. 2 seeded Peru State.
Central found themselves in an early hole in the first half, trailing by as many as 15 points in the first seven and a half minutes.
The Eagles would storm back, outscoring Evangel 31-16 to tie the game at 40-40 heading into the halftime break.
Scoring the opening bucket of the second half, CMU held a 42-40 lead in the opening moments, before the Valor responded with eight straight points to jump back out in front.
Evangel maintained a lead throughout the rest of the game, leading by as many as 15. Trailing by 12 with less than four minutes remaining, Central closed the game out on a 14-5 scoring run.
Jaquan Morris nailed a three-point basket with 33 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 87-84. The Eagles needed a defensive stop and got it with seven seconds left. However, Evangel secured the offensive rebound and Central was unable to foul as the Valor dribbled out the clock for the win.
Morris led the CMU offense with a game-high 27 points which included seven three-point baskets. He also secured six rebounds.
Quinan Rieves also landed in double figures with 23 points on nine-of-16 shooting from the floor. Rieves secured a double-double with 12 rebounds and added a steal and a block.
Marcus Anthony rounded out the double-digit scorers with 16 points in addition to six rebounds, and two steals in 21 minutes off the bench.
James Jordan tallied eight points and dished out a game-high nine assists.
As a team, Central finished the evening shooting 46 percent from the floor, while Evangel remained hot at an even 50 percent.
The Eagles had a strong night from the charity stripe, going 15-of-16 from the free throw line. EU did its damage from long range, knocking down 44.4 percent of its three point attempts.
CMU held a slight advantage on the glass, outrebounding Evangel 36-33.
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