Men's Basketball earned a key home win Saturday afternoon.

The Ravens defeated the Central Methodist University Eagles, 86-70, picking up a conference win as the calendar turns to February.

The Ravens held a 19-point lead at halftime, but the Eagles made a run at the Ravens in the second half. CMU trimmed the Ravens lead to single digits with 12 minutes to play, but Brycen LaRue answered with two free throws for the Ravens.

Later in the half, the Eagles got the deficit to just 4 points, but again LaRue had an answer for the Ravens. First, the senior drilled a 3-pointer and then followed it up with a jumper. After the Eagles cut the Ravens lead down to 5 points one more time, it was LaRue with a deep 3-pointer for the final answer needed as the Ravens went on to win by 16.

LaRue finished with a career-high 32 points on Senior Day. Deaglan Sullivan joined LaRue in double digits, scoring 19 points and dishing out 5 assists. Jack Vander Woude had 8 points and 6 rebounds, Preston Reynolds scored 6 points to go with 7 boards, and Harrison Kisling added 8 points and 7 assists.

The Ravens were tremendous on the offensive end in the opening half on Saturday. The Ravens took a 47-28 lead into the halftime break, shooting 63.6% from the field and knocking in 5-of-11 from 3-point range. They finished at 9-21 from deep.

Ball movement was huge for the Ravens as they dished out 15 assists in the opening 20 minutes of action. They finished the game with 21 assists.

With the win, the Ravens draw even with the Eagles in the conference standings as both teams are now 8-6. A large group of Heart teams sit between 5-8 losses as teams jockey for position in the final weeks of the season.

The Ravens (12-10, 8-6 Heart) will host Culver-Stockton at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4 back in the Ralph Nolan Gym.