For the 29th-straight time, the Ravens Men's Basketball team made the plays it needed down the stretch to pull off a win.
The Ravens defeated the Clarke University Pride 74-72 in the Semifinals of the Heart Postseason Tournament on Saturday. The lead changed hands 12 times in a back-and-forth battle, but the Ravens came out on top to improve to 30-2 on the season. They will play Peru State College at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12 back inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium in the Heart Championship Game
Trailing 66-63 with 5:35 to play, the Ravens closed the game out on an 11-6 run that began with a 3-pointer by Thomas O'Connor. The senior now has 103 3-pointers on the season and 239 in his career, good for third-most in program history (Head Coach Ryan Moody is No. 2 on the list with 245).
With 3:51 to play, Eric Krus buried a 3-pointer to give the Ravens a 71-68 lead and they held the lead the remainder of the game. Clarke had a chance to retake the lead late, but the Ravens defense came up with a big stop.
With 19 seconds to play, the Pride inbounded the ball and took some time off the clock before Staci Richardson drove to the basket and, looking for a teammate in the corner, threw the ball out of bounds to turn it over to the Ravens. Jaiden Bristol was fouled with 3.9 seconds to play and made the front end of a one-and-one to push the lead to 74-72. Bristol's second shot bounced off the rim which led to an Earnest Bolden Jr. half-court shot that wide and allowed the Ravens to secure the win.
The see-saw game had seven ties and 12 lead changes. The Ravens biggest lead was 5 points and they trailed by as many as 11 points late in the first half. An 8-2 run in the final two minutes of the first half pulled the Ravens within 5 points at the break.
The Ravens continued the run to start the second half, surging out to a 47-44 lead. However, Clarke hung with the Ravens and held a 5-point lead with 8 minutes to play. Bristol and Adam Kutney scored a couple baskets to trim the lead to one, then Clarke answered with a basket before O'Connor tied the game at 66-66 to set up the final 5 minutes.
Krus led the Raves with 18 points, O'Connor scored 11 points and Nickels and Kutney each had 8 points. Bristol nearly notched his second triple-double of the season, finishing the game with 15 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Clarke's Jared Walker led all scorers with 23 points.
The Ravens shot 48.2 percent from the field and finished 47.6 percent from deep after connecting on just two of their first nine 3-pointers. The Pride shot 41.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the 3-point line. Clarke was just 2-of-11 from 3 in the second half.
The win puts the Ravens in the Heart Postseason Tournament Championship game for the first time in program history.
In the previous two meetings with Peru State, the Ravens won by scores of 67-63 and 70-64. The Bobcats are led by Lyle Hexom, the Heart Player of the Year.
Tuesday's game will be streamed by Niles Media Group on ESPN3.
