The Anderson University men's basketball team took down Manchester University with a 65-54 victory during Wednesday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in North Manchester.
Anderson (7-5, 4-1) put up its best defensive showing of the year, allowing a season-low 54 points to Manchester (4-8, 2-3).
"Obviously I'm very pleased to get a tough win on the road," Coach Owen Handy said. "We were a little uneven offensively, but we really guarded [on Wednesday]. We are developing a lot of defensive confidence and it's really fun to win games because we stop people."
The Ravens held a 36-23 lead at halftime. Manchester managed to chip away and cut Anderson's lead to three with 11 minutes, 34 seconds remaining, but Anderson pulled away again went ahead by as many as 14.
"Manchester came out of halftime with a lot of energy and determination, and shaved our lead all the way down to three. we responded with a lot of composure, pushed the lead back out, and really handled their pressure well late."
Malik Laffoon led the Ravens with 15 points. Maurice Knight notched seven points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.
Michael Rogers contributed a season-high 12 points. Jake Gudorf provided nine points and Jalen Johnson turned in a career-high eight points.
"Michael, Jake and Jalen played their best all-around games of the season [on Wednesday]."
Ronny Williams added seven points and four steals. Austin Lyons scored five points and Larry Johnson rounded out Anderson's scoring with two points.
Anderson converted 23-of-61 (37.7 percent) shots from the field and 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) attempts from 3-point range. Manchester made 22-of-60 (36.7 percent) attempts from the floor and 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) shots from behind the arc.
The Ravens hit 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) shots from the free-throw line while the Spartans made 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
Anderson outscored Manchester 10-2 on second-chance points. The Ravens also held an 8-2 advantage on fast-break points.
"This was a fun, intense game between two teams that play really hard. It was a fun game to be a part of, and we feel good about coming out on the right side of it."
Franklin College (8-4, 4-1) edged Transylvania University (6-6, 2-3) in the final minute for an 84-81 victory to remain tied with Anderson for first place in the HCAC. Anderson and Franklin face off in a showdown for the conference lead on Saturday at 3 p.m. in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
