KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the first time since the 2010-11 season, the Raven Men's Basketball team took the floor against historic rival Rockhurst University.
While the game was an exhibition for the Ravens (9-2), Benedictine put themselves in position to earn the win throughout the game before Rockhurst (5-3) pulled away late for a 75-69 win.
Neither team led by more than six points while the game played through seven ties and 10 lead changes.
Rockhurst made the first basket of the game before Adam Kutney and Thomas O'Connor gave the Ravens their first lead of the night inside the first two minutes of the game. They held that lead for most of the first half, leading by six points twice before Rockhurst regained the lead at 25-23 with just over six minutes left in the first half.
The Ravens took back over the lead on baskets from Jaiden Bristol and Colby Nickels before the Hawks closed the half outscoring Benedictine 13-4 to take a six point lead into halftime.
Benedictine came out of the half and upped their defensive effort. They held Rockhurst scoreless four just over four minutes to start the second half which allowed the Ravens offense to heat back up. Benedictine erased their six-point halftime deficit outscoring Rockhurst 18-8 by the under 12 media timeout to lead 50-46.
The Ravens battled back from a five-point deficit after the Hawks pulled ahead 58-53 with just over eight minutes left to play to tie the game at 67-67 on a 3-pointer from O'Connor with two minutes remaining.
Rockhurst was able to limit Benedictine to just two more points over the final two minutes of the game as they outscored the Ravens 8-2 to earn the win.
Four players reached double figures in scoring for the Ravens as Kutney scored a game-high 17 points. Eric Krus and O'Connor finished with 15 while Nickels added 10. Bristol finished with nine points, three assists and two steals.
The Ravens host Haskell Indian Nations University at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12 before returning to Heart play on Dec. 15 against No. 25 Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa.
