The Anderson University men's basketball team boosted its winning streak to four by fighting off Earlham College with a 67-59 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) victory on Saturday in Richmond.
Anderson (6-5, 3-1) played its first game since Dec. 21. The Ravens held a 60-44 lead with 5 minutes, 6 seconds left in the game. Earlham (5-6, 1-3) cut Anderson's lead to 63-59, but ran out of time.
"This was a tough, grind-it-out win on the road," Coach Owen Handy said. "We didn't have a lot of offensive flow. A small part of that is Christmas break, but the lion's share of that credit goes to Earlham. They kept us off balance the whole game."
Anderson converted 22-of-52 (42.3 percent) shots from the field and 4-of-17 (23.5 percent) attempts from 3-point range. Earlham hit 24-of-65 (36.9 percent) attempts from the floor and 7-of-25 (28 percent) shots from behind the arc.
The Ravens knocked down 19-of-25 (76 percent) shots from the free-throw line and the Quakers made 4-of-7 (57.1 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
Anderson edged Earlham 41-38 on the boards.
The Ravens committed 16 turnovers while the Quakers turned the ball over 12 times. Earlham rolled to a 20-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Maurice Knight posted 23 points and nine rebounds. Malik Laffoon recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
"Our two most experienced players looked like it [on Saturday]. At the defensive ends of the floor and on the glass Malik and Maurice really set the tone for us. This is a game we won because of how we defended."
In his third showing with the Ravens, Larry Johnson contributed nine points. Ronny Williams filled his stat line with six points, six assists and four steals. Michael Rogers put together six points. Austin Lyons and Jalen Johnson provided three points each. Jake Gudorf rounded out Anderson's scoring with two points.
The Ravens take on Manchester University (4-7, 2-2) in HCAC action next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in North Manchester.
Anderson and Franklin College (7-4, 3-1) are currently tied for the HCAC lead. The two teams will square off in an HCAC showdown next Saturday at 3 p.m. in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
