SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Wednesday's penultimate Heart game for the No. 1-ranked Raven Men's Basketball team went down to the wire as the home-standing Crusaders pushed Benedictine (27-2, 23-0 Heart) to the very end.
In the end, Evangel (6-22, 5-18 Heart) just didn't have enough offensive fire power to hold the Ravens second-half surge as Benedictine earned a 79-75 win to extending their winning streak to 26.
The largest lead of the game was no more than seven points when Evangel led 45-38 inside the first four minutes of the second half. Eric Krus and Adam Kutney pushed the Ravens out to a quick 5-0 lead before the Crusaders answered to set the stage for the remainder of the game.
The two teams played through eight ties in the first half with Evangel holding the lead for the final four minutes of the half as they took a 33-29 lead into halftime. Defensively, both teams limited opportunities for their opponent. At the break, the Ravens were converting on just 33.3 percent but had held Evangel to just 28.6 percent.
As the second half started, the Ravens looked poised to complete their comeback, but every time they made a run at the Crusaders, Evangel would answer on the offensive end. After trailing for much of the first 12 minutes of the second half, Benedictine used a 9-0 to erase a five-point deficit and pull ahead by four points, 65-61, with just over six minutes left to play.
Evangel answered to regain the lead before Krus connected on back-to-back 3-pointers with just over three minutes left to play to push Benedictine back in front by five points. That was the final push the Ravens needed as they never gave back the lead. Benedictine connected on 6 of 10 free throws over the final 90 seconds of play to keep the Crusaders at arm's length.
Benedictine finished the game connecting on 61.3 percent from the free throw line, well below their season average. They continued to convert a high percent on offense as they finished the game at 50 percent from the floor and 57.1 percent from beyond the arc as they connected on a total of 12 3-pointers.
Krus led three Ravens in double figures with 21 as he hit 7 of 9 from the floor with three 3-pointers. Colby Nickels finished with 16 while Thomas O'Connor added 13.
The Ravens head to Olathe for a 4 p.m. game Saturday against MNU as they look to cap of their conference schedule undefeated.
