PARKVILLE, Mo. – For the third time this season, the Raven Men's Basketball team needed overtime to decided the final outcome of a game. This time around No. 16 Park University (3-1) outscored Benedictine (6-1) 10-8 in overtime to earn a 66-64 win over the Ravens in the final non-conference game of the season for Benedictine.
As one might imagine for a game that was settled in overtime, the two teams played through eight ties and 15 lead changes.
Benedictine led from the start but was never able to pull away from Park early. The Pirates remained close and pull ahead for the first time, 17-16, near the midpoint of the first half. From that point, the Ravens held the Pirates scoreless for a four minute stretch that allowed the Ravens to pull ahead by seven points.
The Ravens stretched their lead to eight points before the Pirates battled back to pull even at 32-all headed into halftime.
Benedictine connected on 52.4 percent from the floor in the first half while Park connected on 41.4 percent while forcing the Ravens into 12 first-half turnovers.
After Park scored the first four points of the second half to pull ahead of Benedictine, the Ravens worked their way back into the game to lead by as much as five points before the two teams settled into a back-and-forth game that witnessed six lead changes over the last six minutes of regulation before the two teams played to a 56-all tie at the end of regulation.
Benedictine's only lead of the overtime period came with just over two minutes remaining. The game played through two more ties before Park took the lead for good with 16 second left to play.
Benedictine's Jake Schannuth took a shot with one second remaining that would have given the Ravens the lead but it didn't fall and Park pulled in the rebound to secure the win.
Schannuth finished with a game-high 17 points and was matched by the 17-point effort of Adam Kutney. Schannuth finished with three 3-pointers while Kutney added a 6 for 10 day from the floor with a 5-of-6 effort from the charity stripe with nine rebounds.
The Ravens return home on Monday to take on their second straight NAIA-ranked opponent as they host No. 23 Central Methodist University at 7:30 p.m.
