The Anderson University men's basketball team battled past Olivet College with an 88-81 victory on Saturday in Olivet, Mich.
"This marks off a really good finish to our first semester," Coach Owen Handy said. "Olivet is a team that is totally new to playing together and Coach Hargreaves has them competing really hard."
Maurice Knight poured in 34 points for the Ravens (5-5).
"Maurice has become such a reliable guy at the offensive end. He makes consistently good decisions and is really hard to single-cover."
Ronny Williams tallied 19 points and three steals. Malik Laffoon added 14 points as well as team-highs of four assists and five rebounds.
Michael Rogers provided 10 points.
"Michael didn't dominate the box score, but did a lot of important 'little' things in the second half. He sat down and guarded his man, he helped really well, and then he got two really key tips on offensive rebounds late to extend possessions."
Austin Lyons turned in eight points and three steals while Jake Gudorf rounded out Anderson's scoring with three points.
Shawn Pardee paced the Comets (1-7) with 26 points. Chris Martin scored 18 points and converted 8-of-10 (80 percent) shots from the field. Jared Long recorded 12 points and nine rebounds. Colin Carter pulled down 14 rebounds and Eddie Thigpen blocked two shots.
Olivet committed 18 turnovers while Anderson turned the ball over only seven times. The Ravens captured a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Ravens knocked down 28-of-59 (47.5 percent) shots from the floor and 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) shots from 3-point range. Olivet hit 29-of-65 (44.6 percent) attempts from the field and 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) shots from behind the arc.
Anderson drained 23-of-33 (69.7 percent) shots from the free-throw line while Olivet made 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
The Comets outrebounded the Ravens 48-26. Olivet finished with a 16-4 advantage on offensive rebounds and outscored Anderson 13-3 on second-chance points.
The Ravens jumped out to a 15-2 run to start the game, which was capped off by a fast-break dunk from Knight. Olivet chipped away during the next 12 minutes, 45 seconds to tie the game at 35-all with 3:05 left in the first half. The game remained within a possession for the remainder of the half and the Comets entered halftime with a 44-42 lead.
"We started fast, but relaxed a few minutes into the game. We weren't really committed defensively & missed a lot of box outs."
Laffoon made a 3-pointer to score the first points in the second half and give Anderson a 45-44 lead. The game remained within a possession until Laffoon finished a bucket-and-1 to put the Ravens up 52-48. Olivet scored the next four points to tie the game at 52-all and the back-and-forth action resumed. Consecutive baskets from Carter and Thigpen gave the Comets a 62-57 lead with 11:27 left in the second half. At that point in the game, there had been six lead changes and four ties in the second half.
During the next 3:16, Anderson rattled off a 10-0 run with Knight scoring the final eight points. The Ravens held a 67-62 lead with 8:11 to go. Martin made a layup to bring the game to within a possession. Knight hit a free throw, then Pardee knocked down a 3-pointer to help Olivet cut its deficit to 68-67 with 7:07 remaining. The Ravens managed to establish some separation by scoring the next five points and gain a 73-67 lead.
The Comets remained within three points with 3:01 left in the game, but Lyons drained a critical 3-pointer to put Anderson ahead 80-74. Pardee managed to score four points and trim Anderson's lead to 81-78. On the next possession, Rogers and Lyons each gathered offensive rebounds to keep the possession alive. Lyons hit a free throw to make it a two-possession game. On the following possession, Lyons came up with a steal and Williams hit a pair of free throws to give Anderson an 84-78 lead help seal the chances of an Olivet comeback.
"We did not execute perfectly down the stretch, but Maurice got us some separation and we were able to keep it at arm's length to the finish."
With a 2-1 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) record, Anderson is one of five teams tied for first in the HCAC. Anderson faces off with Earlham College (5-5, 1-2) in HCAC action on Jan. 4 at 3 p.m. in Richmond.
