Ravens Pull Away from Grizzlies

The Anderson University men's basketball team secured a 73-60 over the Franklin College Grizzlies on Saturday inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. Anderson (9-4, 4-2) was able to pull away from the Grizzlies (7-6, 3-3) during the second half to pick up the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) victory. Off the bench, senior Austin Lyons led the Ravens to victory with 16 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Neither team was able to get on the board until 17 minutes, 54 seconds was on the clock. Maurice Knight secured the first points with two made free throws. The Grizzlies Jalen Love tied it up 12 seconds later with a jump shot.
• With 12:32 left in the first half, the Ravens held an eight-point lead over the Grizzlies after Austin Lyons made a jumper to put Anderson up 14-6.
• Franklin was able to push back offensively to come back within one several times against Anderson, but the Ravens were able to hold onto their lead for the rest of the half.
• The teams went into the locker rooms for halftime with Anderson leading Franklin 30-27.
• Out of halftime, the Grizzlies would tie up the game at 17:19 after Carter Crowe made a jump shot to make it a 32-all game. It then became a competitive back-and-forth game for the next few minutes.
• The Ravens began to break away from the Grizzlies at 10:44 when Camden Smith made a layup to put the Ravens up 50-44. Maurice Knight then added three after a layup and one free throw.
• Anderson went on a 14-0 run between 9:21 when Austin Lyons nailed a 3-pointer, and 5:15 when Fred Shropshire made a layup and one free throw. The Ravens led the Grizzlies 67-46, a 21-point lead and the Ravens largest lead of the game.
• The Grizzlies answered with a 6-0 run to cut the Ravens lead.
• In the end, the Ravens secured a 13-point lead over the Grizzlies as they defeated Franklin 73-60.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Four Ravens recorded double-digit points. Jordan Gadis, Camden Smith and Austin Lyons each came off the bench to score in double digits while Maurice Knight also broke into double-digit scoring.
• Anderson ended the game shooting 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the field. The Ravens finished 8-of-19 (42.1 percent) from behind the arc, and 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) in free throws.
• Off the bench the Ravens were on fire as they accounted for 45 of the 73 points recorded throughout the contest.
• Austin Lyons led the Ravens against the Grizzlies. The senior tallied 16 points in the victory as well as six rebounds, one assist, and one block.
• Maurice Knight ended the game with a stat line of 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one block.

COACH CARTER COLLINS COMMENTS

• I'm extremely proud of how the guys responded to the challenge [on Saturday]. At halftime we pointed out a few key things that we needed to be better at and then went out in the second half and were clearly improved in those areas for the most part. 
• In my five years, I've been extremely fortunate to work with some outstanding men in the AU Men's Basketball program, and the group that we have this year is no different. When I found out that I'd be leading the coaching staff for [Saturday's] game, I knew immediately that the guys on the team were going to make things easy on me, and they proved me correct. All of the credit goes to them - winning a conference game against a quality opponent without your normal coach is not easy, and they went out and did it.

UP NEXT

The Ravens return to the court in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium on Wednesday when they welcome the Yellow Jackets of Defiance College (5-5, 3-1) for some HCAC action. Tip-off is set for 7:30PM.