Uzorh Breaks Single-Season Blocking Record in Anderson D-III Era

Anderson University men's basketball senior Francis Uzorh (Lagos, Nigeria / Cushing Academy) broke the single-season blocking record in Anderson's D-III Era during Wednesday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in Defiance, Ohio.

Uzorh recorded three blocks to put him at 44 on the season, breaking the previous Anderson D-III Era record of 42 set by Maurice Knight (Frankton, Ind. / Frankton) during the 2019-20 season. Uzorh is averaging 2.0 blocks per game, which leads the HCAC.

The Ravens (15-7, 10-5) fell short to the Yellow Jackets (9-10, 7-5) by a final score of 67-55.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• From the opening tip, both teams came out strong offensively, quickly putting up numbers. The beginning minutes were a back-and-forth battle, with both the Ravens and the Yellow Jackets holding a lead.
• With 16 minutes, 2 seconds in the first half, Francis Uzorh made a layup to make it an 8-8 game, the Ravens then took the lead at 15:38 off a Jordan Gadis jump shot.
• The lead went on to be built over the next few minutes. Defiance would then make back-to-back three's between 12:57 and 12:08 to take the lead from the Ravens. At this point the score was 14-12 in favor of Defiance. From that moment on, the Yellow Jackets would lead for the remainder of the game.
• At halftime of the game, Defiance held a 35-26 lead over the Ravens.
• During the second half, the Ravens would cut down the Yellow Jackets lead. With just under 10 minutes of play at 9:34, Fred Shropshire made it a two-point game as the Ravens trailed 48-46.
• Defiance kept their lead as the Ravens attempted to stay within striking distance. Ultimately, with time ticking away, Anderson was unable to come back offensively as they fell to the Yellow Jackets 67-55.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Anderson kept it close from the field, going 22-of-49 (44.9 percent) while Defiance went 25-of-58 (43.1 percent). Behind the arc though, the Ravens struggled, making just 1-of-10 (10 percent) while the Yellow Jackets finished 7-of-13 (53.8 percent)
• Both sides picked up 33 rebounds apiece.
• Maurice Knight finished the game with 15 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
• Francis Uzorh picked up a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds. Uzroh also picked up three blocks.
• Tate Ivanyo contributed 11 points, three steals, two rebounds, and one assist.

HEAD COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• I thought we played hard [Wednesday], we just didn't play well. We executed most of what we wanted to accomplish in our game plan, but made enough general basketball mistakes that we couldn't overcome.
• A lot of that had to do with Defiance. They did a good job of putting pressure on us and making us less comfortable at the offensive end.
• It'll be a quick turnaround and a trip to Transylvania on Saturday. Despite the loss, I remain confident in our group and I'm excited to prepare for another big test on the road.

UP NEXT

Anderson now heads down to Transylvania University to take on the Pioneers (12-8, 7-6) in HCAC action in Lexington, Ky. Tipoff between the Ravens and Pioneers is scheduled for 5PM.