Men's Basketball shot the ball well in a home win Tuesday night.
The Ravens shot over 50% from the field, knocking off the MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers 82-73 inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium
Chris Jackson got the Ravens going early in the first half, knocking down three 3-pointers and scoring 11 of the team's first 20 points. Then Jaiden Bristol got in on the action. He knocked down a 3-pointer, then got a steal and a fast-break layup for 5 quick points to give the Ravens a 35-22 lead 15 minutes into the game.
MNU went on a 10-0 run to cut the Ravens lead to 3 points with 2 minutes to play, and the Ravens went into the halftime break up 43-38.
Bristol led all scorers with 18 at the break, also adding seven assists for the Ravens. Both teams shot well in the opening 20 minutes as the Ravens were 51.6% from the field and the Pioneers were 53.6%. A key difference was behind the 3-point line as the Ravens converted 7-of-19 from deep while MNU was just 3-11. Another key was the Ravens ability to limit MNU's Anthony Brown, who was scoreless in the first half. Brown entered the game averaging 19.8 points per game, the sixth-best mark in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
The Pioneers cut the Ravens lead to 1 point thanks to a Blake Spellman 3-pointer with 14:04 to play in the second half, but that was answered by a bucket from Joel Adese and a 3-pointer by Matt Austin to push the Ravens back up by 6 points. The Ravens maintained control the rest of the game, helped by a strong second half from Austin. The guard scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half, knocking down three 3-pointers.
Bristol had a team-high 23 points and nine assists to go along with seven rebounds. Jackson finished with 18 points and three assists.
The Ravens shot 51.7% from the field in the game, connecting on 42.3% from deep after entering the game at No. 11 in the NAIA with a team average of 43.1% from 3-point land.
While the Ravens continued to shoot well in the second half, their defense limited the Pioneers to 33.3% shooting from the field. Brown finished the game with 2 points while the Pioneers were led by Spellman's 24 points.
The Ravens (6-2, 3-1 Heart) have now won three-straight games. They'll try to make it four in a row on Saturday, Nov. 28 at Central Methodist University.
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