Spartans Hang onto Win against Ravens in HCAC Tournament

As the Anderson University men's basketball team (8-6) surged back from an 11-point deficit in the second half, Manchester University hung onto a 64-63 victory during Wednesday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) quarterfinal in North Manchester.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Ravens scored the first seven points of the game.
• Anderson took its biggest lead of the game when Ronny Williams knocked down a 3-pointer, putting the Ravens ahead 27-16 with 7 minutes, 42 seconds left in the half.
• Manchester responded by putting together a 15-0 run during the next 4:28.
• The Spartans held a 36-33 lead at halftime.
• Manchester maintained their momentum in the second half. The Spartans pulled ahead to a 54-43 lead with 11:50 to go, which was capped off by a 3-pointer from Brandon Christlieb.
• The Ravens chipped away with a 12-3 run as they trailed the Spartans 56-55 with 3:46 to go.
• Alex Hunt knocked down a 3-pointer to even the score at 58-all with 2:54 remaining.
• C.J. Hampton and Gavin Dowling traded baskets to keep the game tied.
• Hampton hit two free throws to put Manchester ahead 62-60 with 1:05 to go.
• Williams gave the Ravens a 63-62 lead with a layup with 14 seconds to go.
• Cortiz Buckner drained two free throws to give Manchester a 64-63 lead with six seconds remaining. The Spartans came up with a defensive stop on the final possession.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Anderson turned the ball over 22 times while Manchester committed 13 turnovers. The Spartans capitalized on the Raven mistakes, outscoring Anderson 33-19 off turnovers.
• The Ravens converted 24-of-50 (48 percent) shots from the field while the Spartans made 20-of-53 (37.7 percent) attempts from the floor.
• Williams led the Ravens with 19 points. The senior from Anderson also collected seven rebounds.
• Dowling produced team-highs of nine rebounds and five assists.
• Hunt turned in a career-high nine points.

COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• My hat is off to Manchester. They competed harder than we did and executed more consistently than we did for most of the game. They deserved to win this one.
• For the middle 20 minutes of the game, we had very little discipline at either end of the floor. We turned it over, took bad shots, did not communicate through switches on defense, and consistently lost shooters at the perimeter.
• I was pleased with how we fought back into the game, but we made some really bad decisions with the ball down the stretch. We gave Manchester the ball back with turnovers when what we needed was longer offensive possessions with the ball going to the post. It's very hard to win a game when you turn the ball over 22 times and barely make half your free throws, and unfortunately we did both those things.
• The positive for us is that our future is very bright. We'll return all of this group, and add back in some talented players who missed the season due to COVID or injuries. I have really loved coaching this team, and feel really excited about what comes next.