Anderson Fights Off Rose-Hulman On the Road

The Anderson University men's basketball team (11-5, 6-3) fought off Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (9-5, 5-3) in a road Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup by a score of 63-60 on Wednesday in Terre Haute.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Anderson opened up the game with a 7-0 run in the first 2 minutes, 15 seconds.
• The Fightin' Engineers chipped away and cut their deficit to 12-10.
• After Anderson took a 17-12 lead, Rose-Hulman came back and took its first lead of the game Bradley Harden completed a 4-point play for the Fightin' Engineers to go ahead 18-17.
• Both teams stayed within a possession for the next three minutes. After Rose-Hulman tied the game at 22 apiece, Anderson sparked another 7-0 run. Phil Bessick capped the run with a 3-pointer to put the Ravens ahead 29-22 with 4:36 left in the half.
• The Ravens entered halftime with a 33-30 advantage.
• Samvit Ram trimmed the lead to one with a layup to start the half. Anderson responded with an 8-0 run to go ahead 41-32 with 17:11 to go. Tate Ivanyo scored four points during the run.
• The Fightin' Engineers then put together a 10-1 run to even the score at 42-all. Vuk Djuric and Terry Hicks each scored four points during the run.
• The two teams would be tied again at 44-44 and 46-46. Anderson went ahead 52-46 with 9:29 to go when Maurice Knight and Fred Shropshire hit consecutive 3-pointers.
• Rose-Hulman scored the next nine points to take a 55-52 lead. Tate Ivanyo immediately responded with a 3-pointer to even the score at 55-all with 6:01 to go.
• During the next 2:31, the Fightin' Engineers would go ahead by four as Jackson Kabric and Max Chaplin each hit a pair of free throws.
• Fred Shropshire and Maurice Knight hit consecutive baskets to tie the game at 59 apiece with 2:27 to go.
• The Ravens took the lead when Fred Shropshire hit a 17-foot pull-up jumper with 40 seconds to go, giving the Ravens a 61-59 advantage.
• Rose-Hulman attempted to tie the game on the next possession, but Francis Uzorh came up with the block.
• Trailing 63-60, the Fightin' Engineers had the opportunity to tie the game on the final possession, but Fred Shropshire stole the handoff pass and Anderson sealed the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Ravens hit 7-of-23 (30.4 percent) shots from 3-point range while the Fightin' Engineers made 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) attempts from the perimeter.
• The contest consisted of eight ties and six lead changes.
• Maurice Knight led the Ravens with 21 points and three steals. He also knocked down 8-of-9 (88.9 percent) shots from the free-throw line.
• Tate Ivanyo contributed 15 points for the Ravens.
• Fred Shropshire produced 14 points for the Ravens.

COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• I'm absolutely thrilled to come away with a win. Some games you play well, but don't shoot well; I thought this was one of those games. We showed a lot of mental toughness to keep taking the right shots when it felt like they weren't falling, and to stay focused on executing defensively, regardless.
• We had some guys make really tough plays down the stretch. Maurice and Fred both dropped in midrange jumpers and Francis came up with a big blocked shot out of a defensive rotation with the shot clock off.
• At the turn in the conference season, it sure feels to me like we are continuing to grow and get better. I'm excited to see where that gets us during the second rotation through conference play.

UP NEXT

As HCAC schools begin to play each other for a second time, the Ravens take on Mount St. Joseph University (6-9, 2-6) in HCAC action on Saturday at 3 p.m. in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.