PARKVILLE, Mo. – The Park University Pirates used a 45-point second half to earn a split with the Raven Men's Basketball team on Saturday.

After playing to a tie at 27 in the first half, the Pirates outscored the Ravens 45-34 in the second half to hand Benedictine (11-4, 8-3 Heart) a 72-61 loss.

Park nearly led Benedictine wire-to-wire. Matt Austin gave the Ravens their only lead of the day with his first basket inside the first two minutes of play to give Benedictine a 2-1 advantage. Baskets from Chris Jackson, Jaiden Bristol and Eric Krus pulled the game into a tie, with the basket by Krus send the game into halftime tied at 27-27.

In the second half, Park seemed to have an answer for every basket for Benedictine. By the midpoint of the second half, the Pirates managed to pull ahead by as much as 10 points. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Bristol and Krus kept the Ravens within two possessions with just over seven minutes remaining, but that was ll the closer the Ravens could cut down their deficit.

Park finished the second half hitting 15 of 17 at the free throw line with 10 of those coming down the stretch to hold off any comeback effort by the Ravens. The Pirates also took full advantage of 19 turnovers from the Ravens, outscoring Benedictine's 22-9 off turnovers.

Krus led three Ravens in double figures with 18 as he connected on three of the Ravens 6 3-pointers. Austin finished with 15 while Bristol added 12.

Benedictine wraps up their three-game road swing on Wednesday with a trip to Olathe to take on MNU at 7:30 p.m. In their first meeting of the season back on Nov. 24, Benedictine earned an 82-73 win over the Pioneers.