Men's Basketball picked up its fifth-straight win Wednesday night as the Ravens knocked off the newest Heart of America member, the Park University Pirates, 75-67. The win also snaps the Ravens four-game losing streak to Park.
Leading by 8 points at halftime, the Ravens pushed that lead to double-digits midway through the second half. A basket by Eric Krus was followed by buckets from Nysir Scott and Matt Austin to put the Ravens in front 56-43. A 3-pointer by Austin later in the half gave the Ravens a 14-point lead, their biggest of the game.
The Pirates continued to fight, though, cutting the Ravens lead to 8 points a couple times late in the second half, but the visitors could get no closer.
Austin's 16 points was a team-high for the Ravens. He was joined in double-figures by Jayden Temme's 14 points, 13 from Krus, and 12 points by Chris Jackson. Tyson Cathy had seven rebounds to go along with a pair of blocked shots; Austin and Krus each had two blocked shots, as well.
The Ravens connected on half their shots in the second half, shooting 47.3% from the field in the game. The Pirates were held to 40.3% shooting.
The Ravens got off to a bit of a cold start in the first half but picked things up enough to hold a 20-17 lead with 7:37 to play in the opening 20 minutes.
The Ravens turned a late 1-point lead into a 37-29 advantage at halftime thanks to a pair of big shots. First, Scott buried a 3-pointer from the corner late in the half. Then, with 3 seconds left on the clock, Austin hit a trey from the other corner, was fouled, and knocked down the free throw for a 4-point play.
The shots signified the Ravens major advantage in the first half. The home side made 5-11 from deep, with Austin sinking a pair of 3-pointers in the opening half. The Pirates, however, were just 1-8 from behind the 3-point line. The Ravens ability to knock down outside shots has been part of the game plan all season. They entered Wednesday's game with the second-most made 3-pointers in the NAIA, with 99.
The Ravens were also able to block five Park shots and had a 44.8% to 36.1% shooting advantage from the floor. Austin and Temme shared the scoring lead at the half for the Ravens, each with 9 points.
As a team, the Ravens blocked 8 Park shots. That adds to the impressive block total for the season, as the Ravens entered Wednesday with 29 blocks, No. 9 in the country. The Ravens also entered the game with the eighth-most assists in NAIA play, adding 14 more to the total against the Pirates. Jackson and Jaiden Bristol each had three assists against the Pirates. Bristol's 48 assists entering the game was the second-best individual mark in the country.
The Ravens move to 8-2 overall, and 5-1 in Heart play. Park falls to 1-3 with the loss.
The Ravens will close out the 2020 portion of their schedule with a 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 home contest against Evangel University. That leads into an extended break before the regular season resumes on Jan. 6, 2021.
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