Pioneers Fend Off Ravens

After leading at halftime, the Anderson University men's basketball team (15-8, 10-6) was unable to hold on as the Transylvania Pioneers (13-8, 8-6) surged a comeback in the second half to pull off a 71-59 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) victory in Lexington, Ky. on Saturday.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cade Gentry put the Ravens on the board first with a layup with 19 minutes on the clock. Besides a 4-4 tie with 15:17 on the clock, the Ravens led the Pioneers for the entirety of the first half.
• Between 14:56 and 14:03, the Ravens tacked on seven points to build a 11-4 lead.
• The Pioneers slowly chipped away at the Ravens lead before Anderson once again went on a streak. At 11:22, Transylvania made it a three-point game with the Ravens leading 13-10 before Anderson went on an 8-to-3 run over the Pioneers to make it a 21-13 game.
• After a two-minute period of no baskets, both teams would make up for it before the end of the half.
• Heading into halftime the Ravens held a slight 28-24 lead over the Pioneers.
• Anderson would fight to hold onto their lead coming out of halftime as Transylvania was closing in on their lead. With 16:53 remaining in the contest, the Pioneers hit a 3-pointer to take a 35-34 lead over the Ravens, their first lead of the game. From that moment on, Transylvania held the lead over Anderson.
• The Ravens fought to keep it close. As 12:25 read on the scoreboard, Maurice Knight made a layup to put the Ravens within four as the Pioneers led 47-43.
• Over the remainder of the game, Transylvania picked up its pace and gained a lead as Anderson struggled to keep up.
• At the final horn, Transylvania secured a 71-59 victory over the Ravens.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Transylvania forced Anderson into 20 turnovers while only giving up 10. The Pioneers were able to secure 25 points off of the Ravens turnovers.
• Transylvania held a 42-30 rebounding advantage. The Pioneers were able to outscore the Ravens 11-0 on second-chance points.
• Maurice Knight picked up 19 points, five rebounds and two blocks.
• Tate Ivanyo finished with 10 points, four rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
• Francis Uzorh added on nine points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.

HEAD COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• Minus 10 on turnovers and minus 12 on the glass, leading to 18 more offensive possessions. That's a really tough gap to overcome.
• After a great week last week, we had a tough week this week. I'm not really sure what to chalk that up to, but we'll watch the tape and see what there is to learn.
• It's a short turnaround with one practice Monday and then a home game with Rose-Hulman. We nicked them at their place, so I'm sure they'll be ready to go.

UP NEXT

Anderson now welcomes the Fightin' Engineers of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (12-9, 8-7) to O.C. Lewis Gymnasium on Tuesday for an HCAC contest. Tuesday's contest marks the final home game of the regular season for the Ravens and Senior Night. Anderson will be celebrating their five seniors: Phil Bessick, Maurice Knight, Dalton DuBois, Austin Lyons, and Francis Uzorh for their career as Ravens on and off the court. Tipoff between the Ravens and Fightin' Engineers is set for 7:30PM.