The No. 15-ranked Raven men's basketball and the No. 11-ranked Culver-Stockton College Wildcats renew their series tonight as the two programs play inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium as members of the NAIA Div. I Top 15.
Tonight's match up between the two schools has also been selected as the HAAC Men's Basketball Game of the Week.
Tonight marks the 43rd meeting between the two programs since Benedictine joined the HAAC for the 1992-93 school year and the Ravens hold the series lead with a record of 26-16.
Last season, both match ups between Benedictine and Culver-Stockton went down to the wire. On Jan. 3, 2013, Culver-Stockton outlasted Benedictine in overtime in the Nolan Gymnasium, 85-81, and then on Feb. 7, 2013, the Wildcats held off a second-half comeback by Benedictine in Canton, Mo., to earn a 93-91 overtime win.
Before last season, Benedictine had won four straight over Culver-Stockton. Since the HAAC moved up to NAIA Div. I, the Ravens hold a 6-4 advantage over the Wildcats.
Entering play tonight, only MNU and Missouri Valley College have more blocks in the HAAC then Benedictine and Culver-Stockton. Benedictine is third in the HAAC (No. 14 NAIA Div. I) in total blocks with 62 while Culver-Stockton is No. 4 in the HAAC with 56.
The match up also pits the HAAC's top scoring defense per game against one of the conference's top scoring offenses.Benedictine leads the HAAC holding their opponents to 68.3 ppg while Culver-Stockton averages 89.9 per game (second in the HAAC).
GAMEDAY LINKS:
No. 15 Benedictine (13-4, 6-1 HAAC) vs. No. 11 Culver-Stockton College (14-3, 5-2 HAAC) – 7:30 p.m. – Ralph Nolan Gymnasium
Radio: KAIR 93.7 FM or www.network1sports.com/station/kair
Video: BRSNtv – www.livestream.com/benedictineravensportsnetwork
Livestats (click on the ((w))): Dakstats Livestats
Twitter: @RavenGameDay or @HAAC_sports
ABOUT CULVER-STOCKTON: In his second season as head coach at Culver-Stockton, Jack Schrader has engineered one of the more impressive turn arounds in recent NAIA memory. ... Culver-Stockton finished the 2011-12 season with an overall record of 5-24 while going 1-17 in the HAAC. ... In the past 52 games under Coach Schrader Culver-Stockton is 40-12. They went 26-9 last year and finished in a tie for second in the HAAC en route to a national tournament run. ... The turn around, in large part, has rested on the shoulders of transfers to the Culver-Stockton program. ...Of the current roster of 16 players only two players previous school listed is a high school. The Wildcats have transfers from seven junior colleges and six four-year colleges on their current roster. ... The Wildcats have six players averaging in double figures with four starters above 10.5 ppg.
ABOUT THE RAVENS: Through 17 games, Benedictine is the No. 1-ranked program in NAIA Div. I in 3-point shooting percentage at an average of 44.1 percent per game. ... As a team, the Ravens have converted 146 3-pointers out of a total of 446 field goals. ... Since the calendar turned to 2014, the Ravens 3-pointers per game average has jumped over 10 per game while their season average right at 7. ... The Ravens have the top scoring defense in the HAAC this season. They are limiting their opponents to 68.3 ppg through 17 games. ... At home, the Ravens have limited their opponents to just 66 ppg while in HAAC play, that number drops even more to 65.7. ... While Benedictine has only outscored their opponents by an average of 3.8 points in 2014, at home Benedictine is outscoring their opponents by 13.9 while that number moves to 11.9 in HAAC play.
UP NEXT: NAIA Div. I Game of the Week vs. No. 5 Evangel University – 4 p.m. Saturday – Springfield, Mo. – Live links available at www.ravenathletics.com.
