Men's Basketball used a strong second half to pick up a season-opening win Wednesday night.

The Ravens defeated Haskell Indian Nations University 81-65 in Atchison after trailing by 9 points at halftime.

The Ravens quickly closed the gap thanks to an 8-0 run early in the second half. It was all Ravens the rest of the way as the home side outscored Haskell 54-29 in the final 20 minutes.

Two things sparked the dominant second half – the Ravens shot 72% from the floor and only had 5 turnovers. Those were two areas the Ravens struggled in the first half.

The Ravens first lead in the second half came from good passing and strong defense. First, Preston Reynolds found a cutting Joel Adese to tie the game 52-52, then Messias Dockery blocked a shot and finished on the other end to push the Ravens in front by 2 points. Moments later, Dockery knocked the ball away from the Haskell ball-handler, Reynolds dove to the floor to tip it back to Tyson Cathy who was then able to find Jake Thompson for a fast-break layup to give the Ravens a 61-54 lead.

Reynolds finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds in his first official game for the Ravens. Braden Belt knocked in 19 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 25 points, hitting four 3-pointers for the Ravens. Adese had 11 rebounds and Cathy finished with 10 boards as the Ravens outrebounded Haskell 46-29.

Reynolds wasn't the only Raven to make his first official appearance; Anthony Hall, Sam Ungashick, and Dockery also logged their first minutes.

The first half was an offensive struggle for the Ravens. They shot 27% from the field and converted just 2-of-10 from 3-point range, both makes coming from Belt. While the Ravens were able to outrebound Haskell 27-18 in the first half, turnovers were an issue as the Ravens gave the ball away 11 times.

Haskell's defensive pressure forced the Ravens into a couple of prolonged scoring droughts, including holding the Ravens scoreless the final 4 minutes of the half to help the visitors push a 1-point lead to a 36-27 lead at the break.

The bright spot for the Ravens in the opening half was Reynolds, who had 9 points and 7 rebounds in 13 minutes of action. The offense came alive in the second half, though, as the Ravens won by 16 points.

Next up for the Ravens (1-0) is a 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5 home contest against Southwestern.