Men's Basketball's second-half comeback attempt came up short Saturday.

The Ravens lost the McPherson Bulldogs 70-61 in their season-opener. The Bulldogs held a 46-25 lead at halftime before the Ravens mounted a comeback.

The Ravens slowly chipped away at the Bulldogs lead in the second half, but still found themselves down by 17 with 7 minutes to play. That's when the home side turned up the intensity.

A bucket by Hagen Hilgendorf and two free throws by Brycen LaRue cut the deficit to 13 points with 5:18 to play, then LaRue's 3-pointer with 4 minutes to play got the Ravens to within 9 points. Another LaRue 3-pointer cut the Bulldogs lead to 61-53 with 3:19 to play, but the Ravens were unable to close the gap any more.

LaRue finished with a game-high 24 points and Braden Belt was the only other Raven player in double digits, scoring 12. Hilgendorf had 7 points and 8 rebounds. The Ravens shot 33.3% from the field and 29% from 3-point range in the game.

Hot shooting and strong rebounding helped the Bulldogs build a 21-point halftime lead. The visitors knocked down seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, hitting from deep at 58.3% clip. McPherson also pounded the boards well, grabbing 25 rebounds in the first half which led to 9 second-chance points.

The Ravens made five 3-pointers of their own but it took 21 attempts (23.8%). The Ravens also only had 10 rebounds in the first half. Leading the way in the first half was Belt, who made three from deep for 9 points.

The Bulldogs did not make a 3-pointer in the second and the Ravens matched them on rebounds in the final 20 minutes.

The Ravens (0-1) will remain home for their next game, taking on Haskell at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1.