BALDWIN CITY – The No. 4-ranked Raven Men's Basketball team earned their third straight win on Friday night as they opened up the Wildcat Classic against Friends University.

Benedictine (3-1) converted on 61.1 percent from the floor in the first half and finished at 55 percent to beat Friends (1-2) 71-55.

The win sets up another early-season Top 25 battle for the Ravens as they take on No. 6 Saint Gregory's University at 1 p.m. Saturday back in Baldwin City.

Friends jumped out quickly offensively, outscoring Benedictine 16-5 over the first seven minutes of the game.

Benedictine responded with a 14-1 run that erased their deficit and allowed the Ravens to take over the lead, 19-17, with just under six minutes left in the first half.

The Ravens lead 38-30 at the break and never looked back.

After Benedictine built as much as a 15-point lead in the second half, Friends cut their deficit down to four points with eight minutes remaining but the Ravens responded by limiting the Falcons to just eight more point over the remainder of the game.

Three Ravens scored in double figures, led by the game-high 18 points of Jonathan Anaekwe. Austin Eckert was next with 17 points off the Raven bench while John Harris Jr., added 14 points.

Friends was led by the 17-point effort of Chris Singhateh.