Men's Basketball grabbed control of Thursday night's home contest early in the second half.
The (25) Ravens quickly turned a 6-point lead into a double-digit cushion, beating the Graceland University Yellowjackets 87-64.
The Ravens entered the contest shooting 43% from deep, second-best in the NAIA but struggled in the first half as they took a 38-32 lead into the break. They snapped out of their cold funk quickly in the second half, knocking down five of their first six from 3-point range. In little more than 5 minutes of action in the second half, the Ravens 6-point lead ballooned to 21 points and they maintained their double-digit lead the remainder of the game.
The Ravens shot 9-14 from deep in the second half. Matt Austin knocked down one of those treys, helping Jaiden Bristol earn the 500th assist of his career. Earlier this season, Bristol reached the 1,000 points and 500 rebounds milestones. He finished Thursday's game with 18 points, eight assists, and six boards.
Chris Jackson led the Ravens with 24 points, Eric Krus had 19 and Austin rounded out the leading scorers with 10 points. As a team, the Ravens shot 52.4% from the floor and 41.4% from deep.
Defensively, the Ravens limited the Yellowjackets to 37.7% shooting while also grabbing nine more rebounds than the visitors.
The Ravens took an 18-8 lead early in the game, but the Yellowjackets didn't give up. Graceland closed the gap to 26-22 with 4:44 to play in the first half. That's when Bristol extended the Ravens lead with aggressive looks at the basket. He hit two straight baskets plus a free throw to give the Ravens a 33-22 lead.
The Yellowjackets continued to battle, though, knocking down a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer and narrowing the deficit to 6 points at the break.
The normally sharp-shooting Ravens were just 3-of-15 from long range in the first half. Conversely, GU knocked down 6-11 from deep to help them stay in the game.
With the outside shots not falling, the Ravens went to the paint for 24 points in the first half and finished the contest with 40 points inside.
The Ravens (16-5, 13-4 Heart) stay at home for their next contest, a 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 game against Mount Mercy University.
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