LINCOLN, Ill. (18) Raven Men's Basketball started off their new season with an 81-62 road win on Wednesday against Lincoln College. 

The Ravens finished the night shooting over 50 percent from the floor while knocking in 62.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc as they opened the season with a convincing win. Benedictine used a 6-0 run to jump out ahead of Lincoln en route to shooting 46.4 percent from the floor.

By the midpoint of the first half, the Ravens pushed ahead by as much as 10 points twice on baskets from Matt Austin and Chris Jackson. A second straight 3-pointer from Jackson gave the Ravens their largest lead of the first half at 11, 24-13. That double-digit advantage was short-lived as the Lynx erased the deficit eventually pulling ahead of Benedictine, 36-35, with 56 seconds remaining in the half. Another 3-pointer, this time from Eric Kruse with 10 seconds remaining in the half, pushed Benedictine back in the lead at the half 38-36.

An 11-3 run by Benedictine over the first five minutes of the second half pushed the Ravens back ahead by double figures and Benedictine never looked back. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Saxton Thuston and Jaiden Bristol gave the Ravens their largest lead of the night, 73-46, with just under six minutes left in the game.

Bristol finished with a game-high 22 points, followed by Austin with 19. Austin finished with 3 of the Ravens 10 3-pointers while Bristol connected on 8 of 8 free throws to go along with 4 rebounds and 5 assists. 

After allowing the Lynx to shoot nearly 47 percent from the floor in the first half, the Ravens held them to just 30.8 percent over the final 20 minutes of the game.

Benedictine opens up their home schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday as they host Briar Cliff University inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium. Tickets are available for the game, as well as Season Tickets, at www.ravenathletics.com/tickets.

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