CANTON, Mo. – Benedictine Men's Basketball battled back from a 13-point second-half deficit on Saturday against Culver-Stockton College only to have two last-second chances fall short as the Wildcats earned a 74-42 win.
Benedictine went inside to pull even with Culver-Stockton, scoring in the paint on a basket from Larry Parker III and two baskets from Gino Corridori to take a 72-71 lead with 35 seconds remaining in the game. Culver-Stockton answered with a 3-pointer with 21 seconds remaining before a 3-pointer from Braden Belt and a tip-in chance with 0.6 seconds remaining rimmed out to allow the Wildcats to escape with the win.
The two teams combined for 8 points inside the first five minutes of play as two baskets by the Wildcats were answered by Corridori and Belt.
After Jack Vander Woude tied the game at 14-all for the Ravens, the Wildcats regained the lead just under midway through the first half. After trailing by as much as 9 points, Corridori knocked down a 3-pointer for the Ravens final basket of the half to send the Ravens into the locker room trailing 31-27.
The second half opened with the two teams matching each other offensively until the Wildcats went on a run through the middle third of the half to push their lead to 13 points near the second-half media timeout.
Belt started the comeback, hitting a jumper and knocking down the ensuing free throw to cut Benedictine's deficit to 9 with just under 8 minutes remaining in the game. From there, Benedictine outscored Culver-Stockton 22-13 ending with the Corridori basket with 36 seconds remaining that gave the Ravens the 72-71 lead.
Corridori led the Ravens with 18 points while Brycen LaRue added 13. Belt, Vander Woude, Parker III, and Ahmad Louis scored 8 points each to round out the Ravens scoring. Benedictine finished with a 34-26 advantage in the paint and scored 13 points off 10 Wildcat turnovers.
Benedictine returns home on Wednesday, hosting (25) MNU at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday the Ravens are hosting Hoops 4 Heart to raise awareness and funds for the America Heart Association. If you want to make a donation ahead of the trip to campus to support the Ravens, please visit http://www2.heart.org/goto/BenedictineGives.
www.ravenathletics.com | #UnleashGreatness | www.benedictine.edu
