Ravens Grind Out Fourth Consecutive Win

An 11-point separation was all the Anderson University men's basketball team (4-0) needed to top the Comets of Olivet College (1-1) to extend their winning streak to four on Saturday. Behind multiple players with double digit points, the Ravens defeated the Comets 86-75 in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.

Anderson's 4-0 start is the program's first 4-0 start since the 2000-01 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Anderson trailed Olivet early on before taking an 8-7 lead, their first of the game, at the 16:34 mark off a Francis Uzorh layup.
• The lead then went back-and-forth between the two teams as neither team was able to pull ahead by much.
• A free throw by Olivet's Eddie Thigpen tied the game back up at 18 a piece with 9:36 remaining in the half.
• Anderson began trying to separate themselves from Olivet with 1:50 left as Maurice Knight made a layup to give the Ravens a 33-32 lead. Knight then made two free throws followed by a Uzorh layup to extend the lead to five points. Olivet was able to close in on the Ravens lead right before the half, sending the teams into the locker room with a score of 40-38 in favor of the Ravens.
• Out of the half, Olivet went on a 12-3 run over the Ravens between 19:23 and 15:05.
• Anderson slowly crawled back into the game. Finally, with 7:40 left on the clock, Austin Lyons tied the game 62-62 with a jumper.
• The Ravens refused to let up, putting all the pressure they could on the Comets, going on a 11-6 run before the Comets called a timeout with 2:53 remaining in the game. Anderson led 73-68.
• Anderson closed out the game with 11 more points, nine of which came from the free throw line. During this time, Camden Smith recorded 7-of-the-11 points for the Ravens.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Anderson capitalized on Olivet's foul trouble, finishing with a 30-13 advantage in made free throws.
• The Ravens converted 25-of-60 (41.7 percent) shots from the field while the Comets made 28-of-78 (35.9 percent) attempts from the floor.
• Maurice Knight led the way for the Ravens with 19 points. Knight picked up seven rebounds, one steal, and one block to end the night.
• Austin Lyons contributed 17 points, four rebounds, one assist, and led with 3 steals.
• Anderson totaled four double-digit scorers. Camden Smith secured 15 points and a team-high nine rebounds while Francis Uzorh tallied 13 points and a team-high five blocks.

HEAD COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• This is a really good win. Olivet is a talented team. They are tough, physical, and well coached. They came out of the half and knocked us on our heels a bit, and it took us some time to get back on balance. We had great resilience and executed consistently at both ends for the last 10 minutes of the game.
• Austin Lyons put together a lights-out stretch of offense in the second half, right when we needed it and Francis Uzorh quarterbacked the back side of our defense with aplomb.
• Our Assistant Coaches did a great job today. Jalen Johnson had a quality scout on their personnel with very little video tape to work from. Carter Collins navigated our defensive matchups effectively the whole game. Jovon McGraw's insight about running our ball-screen stuff to Austin was right on.

UP NEXT

The Ravens head back up to Michigan on Tuesday to take on the Calvin University Knights (2-1) in Grand Rapids. Anderson looks to extend its winning streak during Tuesday's 7:30PM Tipoff.