DES MOINES – The (3) Raven Men's Basketball team tallied 21 assists on 32 field goals on Thursday night as they ran their NAIA-high winning streak to 18 against Grand View University.
Benedictine (19-2, 15-0 Heart) hit over 50-percent from the field and from beyond the arc to erase a halftime deficit against Grand View (10-10, 6-9 Heart) as they earned an 86-60 win.
Grand View led from the start, pushing ahead by as much as nine points as they held Benedictine to just two points through the first five minutes of the game. Benedictine gradually chipped away at their deficit pulling even on a 3-pointer from Adam Kutney with just over five minutes left in the half. Grand View responded to regain the lead and take a 32-31 lead into halftime.
The Ravens were limited to 5 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first half and 40 percent from the field. The Vikings knocked in three 3-pointers and connected on 41.9 percent to hold their one-point halftime advantage.
After being held scoreless in the first half, a 3-pointer from Thomas O'Connor gave Benedictine its first lead of the game inside the first four minutes of the second half. That 3-pointer sparked the Ravens offense and Benedictine never looked back. Leading 40-39 minutes later, the Ravens outscored the Vikings 13-4 over the next three minutes to earn their first double-figure lead of the game at 53-43.
Benedictine held Grand View to just 28 second-half points as they scored 55 en route to a commanding 26-point win
The Ravens held the Vikings to just 36.7 percent from the floor in the second half and 30 percent from beyond the arc. Offensively, they shot 66.7 percent from the floor with 20 field goals while connection on 9 of 14 from beyond the arc as they finished the game at 53.5 percent from the floor and 51.9 percent from beyond the arc. They also added an 88.9-percent effort from the charity stripe as the connected on 6-of-6 in the second half.
Eric Krus led fur Ravens in double figures with 23 as he scored 17 in the second half. Kutney finished with 15 while Chris Jackson gave the Ravens a spark off the bench adding 13 points. O'Connor finished with 11 points as he continues his move closer to 1,000 career points as a Raven as he now sits at 988. Jaiden Bristol was just shy of a double-double as he scored 8 points to go along with his game-high 10 assists.
The win gives the Ravens the regular-season sweep over Grand View while also giving them their first win on the road over Grand View in Heart play in four trips.
Benedictine remains on the road for a 2 p.m. game Saturday against Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa. As they open the final full month of the regular-season, the Ravens have a four-game lead over the field with eight games left in conference play.
