COLUMBIA, Mo. – Benedictine Men's Basketball split a pair of games at Columbia College in the Hampton Inn Classic on Friday and Saturday.
Friday, the Ravens earned a 61-59 last-second win over Hannibal-LaGrange before dropping the Saturday match up with (RV) Columbia, 80-53.
Against Hannibal-LaGrange, the Ravens trailed by 5 points with just over minutes left in the game. They held the Trojans to a free throw over the final 2:39 of the game while Preston Reynolds hit the game-winning layup in the final seconds of the game to give Benedictine the win.
Neither team was able to pull away in the first half, playing through 6 lead changes and 3 ties. The Ravens led by as much as 7 points in the first half before taking a 34-32 lead into halftime.
Benedictine held Hannibal-LaGrange to two field goals over the first 5 minutes of the second half, which allowed them to open up a 9 point lead after a 3-pointer from Jack Vander Woude.
The Ravens held their lead until the 8:03 mark before the Trojans used an 11-2 run to push ahead by 5 before the Ravens mounted their comeback.
Deaglan Sullivan scored a game-high 19 points, followed by Drew Purdy with 13 and Brycen LaRue with 12.
Saturday, Columbia answered a pair of LaRue free throws with a 12-0 run to pull ahead by 10 points inside the first 6 minutes of the game. A layup from Vander Woude with three free throws from Preston Reynolds and Sullivan pulled the Ravens back within 5 only to have that mini run answered by the Cougars.
Columbia pushed ahead by as much as 19 points before taking a 37-22 lead into halftime.
The Cougars opened the second half with 11 points to pull ahead by 26 and held at least a 23-point lead over the rest of the second half before earning the 27-point win.
LaRue was the only Raven in double figures with 12 points, while Larry Parker III and Aiden Sullivan added 9 points off the bench.
Benedictine returns to the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium on Saturday, for a 2 p.m game against Mount Mercy University.
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