Anderson Rolls Past Manchester with Road Win

The Anderson University men's basketball team secured an 86-76 win against Manchester University during Friday's Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) matchup in North Manchester. Anderson (16-9, 11-7) pulled away from Manchester (8-16, 7-10) in the second half to secure the win. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The scoring was started by Francis Uzorh before Manchester went out to an early 5-2 lead.  Alex Hunt tied the game quickly after converting on a bucket-and-1.

• The Ravens took an 11-point lead with 6:04 left in the first half after a three from Camden Smith. 

• Another late run by the Ravens gave them a 12-point lead going into the half. 

• The first points of the second half came 1 minute, 15 seconds in from the Ravens' leading scorer Francis Uzorh.

• Anderson held at least a nine-point lead for most of the second half. Manchester came within striking range after C.J. Hampton made a couple of threes. The Spartans trimmed Anderson's lead to 76-71 with 2:14 remaining.

• With 1:08 left in the game, Phil Bessick knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Ravens ahead 79-71.

• Made free throws from multiple Ravens helped hold on to the lead as time expired. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Raven's shot 33-of-62 (53.2 percent) from the field, 5-of-14 (35.7 percent) from 3-point range and 15-of-19 (78.9 percent) from the free-throw line, while the Spartans only shot 25-of-59 (42.4 percent) from the field. 

• The Ravens also blocked six shots and forced 10 turnovers in the game. 

• Francis Uzorh led the Ravens with 17 points on 8-of-10 (80 percent) shooting. 

• Maurice Knight added on 16 points and led the Ravens with 14 rebounds. 

• Tate Ivanyo added a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

HEAD COACH OWEN HANDY'S COMMENTS

• [Friday's] win gets chalked up to great leadership out of our seniors over the past couple of days and a lot of focused determination on the part of our team.

• This is among the most satisfying wins of my coaching career, not because of the way we won, but because of the mental toughness and determination it took to accomplish the things we needed to do.

• We had a number of guys step up. Francis Uzorh played a whale of an offensive game. Camden Smith and Jordan Gadis made great decisions off the bounce. But maybe no one stepped up bigger than Phil Bessick, making two 3-pointers to punish double teams, with one coming down the stretch to extend the lead when Manchester had come knocking."

UP NEXT

Anderson enters the HCAC Quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed. The Ravens face off with fourth-seeded Transylvania University (15-8) on Sunday in Lexington, Ky at a time to be announced.