FAYETTE, Mo. – Benedictine Men's Basketball knocked off No. 20 Central Methodist University on Monday night in their return to Heart play. 

The Ravens connected on 50 percent from the floor and from beyond the arc in the second half while taking full advantage of their trips to the charity stripe as they earned the 67-63 win over the nationally-ranked Eagles.

Benedictine briefly led off a basket from Nysir Scott inside the first minutes of the second half before Central Methodist pushed back ahead by five points. Tyson Cathy connected on a free throw with just over 14 minutes remaining in the game to put the game event at 45 points. That free throw capped off a four-point swing for Cathy that sparked the Ravens to outscore the Eagles 14-4 over the next eight minutes to open up a 10 point lead.

CMU cut that lead down to one point, but couldn't retake the lead as Benedictine remained in the lead over the final eight minutes of the game to earn the upset over the Eagles.

With the win, the Ravens move into a three-way tie atop the Heart South standings headed into a full slate of conference games on Wednesday. Headed into Wednesday, William Penn holds a 4-1 mark in conference play. Benedictine's win moves them into a tie with CMU and Evangel in the Heart South and Mount Mercy, Peru State, Grand View from the Heart North as they all sit at 3-2. Another three teams sit at 2-2 with a fourth team at 2-3 putting 11 teams within two games of each other as conference play heats up in 2022.

Saxton Thuston led the Ravens with a double-double, scoring 17 while recording 10 rebounds. The combination was just short of his career highs in both categories that he set last year in Fayette. Scott and Cathy finished with 13 each to round out the Ravens top scorers.

The Ravens host Peru State College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. before returning to the road for a three-game swing before returning home on Jan. 20 to host Culver-Stockton College. 

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