The Raven Men's Basketball team earned the No. 4 seed from the Heart South and will host Heart North No. 5 Mount Mercy University at 7 p.m. Monday on Dugan Jones Court inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.
Since Monday's game is a Heart Postseason game, season tickets are not valid for admission. General admission tickets for adults is $6, students – both visiting college and 17 and under – is $2, while Benedictine students will be admitted free with a valid ID.
The Ravens suffered a 86-65 loss their only regular season match up this year back on Jan. 6 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Mount Mercy went on a 13-0 run to close out the first half and Benedictine was never able to overcome that run in the second half.
Benedictine held the lead four times in the first half. Boris Rajovic converted a pair of free throws to give the Ravens their first lead at 9-8 early in the game. A pair of 3-pointers by Colby Nickels with 10:52 and a Adam Kutney with 8:42 left in the first half kept the Ravens in the game before a pair of free throws by Kevin Metoyer with just over five minutes left in the have gave the Ravens their final lead of the half.
Despite connecting on 11 second half field goals with a 8-of-12 effort at the free throw line in the second half, the Ravens were never able to break through against the Mustangs as they converted 15 field goals in the second half with 7 3-pointers.
Four Ravens finished in double figures, led by Nickels with 17 as he went 3 for 3 from beyond the arc in 29 minutes. Kutney finished with 12 points while Metoyer added 11. Wills Wallrapp anchored the Ravens bench scoring with 10 points as he went 3 for 4 from the floor with four free throws.
Monday night's winner will advance to the Heart Tournament Quarterfinals held at the higher seed in the four game match ups. The site for Wednesday's game will not be known untll the conclusion of all Opening Round games as the No. 3 through No. 8 seeds in the tournament will be reseeded based on overall conference record and place into the bracket accordingly.
