For the second time in a week and the third time this season, the No. 10-ranked Raven men's basketball team will take on No. 24 Evangel University.
This time around, Benedictine (22-7) and Evangel (22-9) take to the floor looking to earn a spot in the 2014 HAAC Tournament Championshp game on Monday at 7 p.m.
TIP-OFF: Today's match up marks the fifth time the two programs have matched up in the HAAC Tournament. The Crusaders hold a 3-1 record against the Ravens during postseason play. ... Benedictine beat Evangel in the HAAC Tournament during the 1998-99 season with Evangel picking up wins in 2006-07, 2009-10 and 2010-11. ... The Ravens are coming off a 66-51 win over eighth-seeded Baker on Wednesday night while the Cruaders needed double overtime to dispose of fifth-seeded Central Methodist University on Wednesday, 125-114. ... Evangel and CMU combined to set a new NAIA Div. I single-game high with 25 combined 3-pointers while setting a new HAAC single-game high for total points at 239.
GAMEDAY LINKS:
Radio: KAIR 93.7 FM or www.network1sports.com/station/kair
Video: BRSNtv - www.livestream.com/benedictineravensportsnetwork
Livestats (click on the ((w))): Dakstats Livestats
Up next: HAAC Tournament Championship Game – 7 p.m. Monday – Site of higher seeded team in pairing.
ABOUT THE CRUSADERS: The reality of Evangel qualifying for its fifth-straight semifinal round seemed unlikely after the first 6:44 of its first round game on Thursday. Central Methodist hit its first 11 shots, including six three-pointers, and the Crusaders trailed 28-12. Evangel worked its way back into the game, survived a foul with 0.6 seconds left in regulation and outlasted the Eagles to set up its second game in Ralph Nolan Gymnasium in the span of seven days. Evangel was tied with Benedictine last Saturday with 1:24 remaining before coming up empty on its final three possessions to suffer its second three-point defeat to the Ravens this season. The Crusaders' results at the free throw line show a glaring difference between the two results. Evangel turned around an 11 of 19 (.579) free throw clip from last Saturday against the Ravens by converting 33 of 35 (.943) at the stripe on Wednesday against the Eagles. The heavy minutes played on Wednesday night have to be a concern for head coach Steve Jenkins, who had three players log at least 38:10 and will need to shore up the three-point defense heading into a game against the top three-point percentage team in the conference.
ABOUT THE RAVENS: Though they led at the half in four of the previous five contests heading into Wednesday's first round game against Baker, Benedictine led by just a point in each of those games and trailed in the second half of all five games. All of that changed against the Wildcats as the Ravens raced to a 10-point lead within the first 4:00, shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and never trailed to move on to the semifinals for the first time since 2011. Unlike their opponent on Friday, the Ravens were able to spread around the minutes as nobody played more than 27:20 while five reserves logged at least 12:30. Depth and energy in the second half could be a major advantage for Benedictine, which has the confidence of several comeback wins over the last month on its side as well as the familiarity of its home court. Head coach Ryan Moody will no doubt remind his team that it's facing the defending conference tournament champions that brings momentum from its comeback win on Wednesday and possesses a number of players with national tournament experience.
FREE THROWS: Evangel matched the single-game record for combined three-point field goals made (37) and recorded its highest point total since netting 122 against Baptist Bible (Mo.) on Nov. 1, 2011 ... Benedictine has averaged 10.0 three-point shots over its last three home games while shooting 43.5 percent (30 of 69) from beyond the arc ... Crusaders G J.J. Williams set a school record with 17 made free throws in Wednesday's game against Central Methodist, the highest single-game total by a HAAC player this season and most in a game since Malcolm Greer of Baker made 17 against Graceland on Jan. 24, 2009 ... Ravens G John Harris Jr. tallied 17 points in each contest against the Crusaders this season and combined to hit 15 of 18 free throws in the two games.
(capsule information courtesy of the HAAC Office of Sports Information – www.haacsports.com)
