Anderson Clinches Hosting Rights, Fights Past Bluffton

The Anderson University men's basketball team (19-4, 14-2) used a balanced offense to defeat Bluffton University (7-16, 3-13) by a score of 93-87 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) action on Saturday in Bluffton, Ohio.

Anderson clinched a share of the regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the HCAC Tournament with the win. The Ravens also secured the rights to host the HCAC Tournament championship game and semifinals. 

COACH CARTER COLLINS'S COMMENTS

I'm extremely proud of the way that we battled on the road [Saturday]. It's been awhile since we've been pushed and we knew going into the game that winning at Bluffton is extremely difficult. We definitely didn't have our 'A' game from an execution standpoint, but we really stepped up in the final ten minutes of the game to pull it out. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Ravens and Beavers went back and forth to start the game until the Ravens went on a 14-4 run ending at 12 minutes, 18 seconds left in the first half. Anderson went ahead 21-11.

• The rest of the half went back and forth before it came to a close, with the Ravens up 48-41 after a Gavin Dowling buzzer-beating layup

• Bluffton kept the game close and took a 63-62 lead with 9:54 remaining 

• The Ravens responded immediately after with a 13-4 run in the next 2:37

• The Beavers would bring the game back within two points with 1:36 remaining in regulation.

• On the following possession, Dowling completed a bucket-and-1 to put Anderson ahead 87-82 with 1:22 to go.

• Elijah Mattingly iced the game with a block followed by a dunk with 40 seconds remaining.

• The Ravens converted 33-of-73 (45.2 percent) on shots from the field, while Beavers hit 30-of-81 (37.0 percent) attempts from the floor.

• Anderson shot 21-of-27 (77.8 percent) on free throws, while Bluffton went 18-of-23 (78.3 percent) on its free-throw attempts.

• The Beavers hit 9-of-35 (25.7 percent) shots from 3-point range, while the Ravens converted just 6-of-33 (18.2 percent) attempts from the perimeter.

• Anderson held a 52-28 advantage from points off the bench and a 33-16 advantage against Bluffton in points off the bench.

RECORD BOOK UPDATES

• Tate Ivanyo moves up to 35th on the All-Time Scorers list with 1,105 points passing Jeff Jenness (1,101), Mike Burton (1,095) and Dienzel Dennis (1,094).

• 2023-24 Team moves to 3rd for most blocks in a season with 123, passing the 1986-87 team (122)

• 2023-24 Team moves into 10th for most steals in a season with 245, passing the 1993-94 and 2004-05 teams (237)

• 2023-24 Team moves to 3rd for most 3-pointers in a season with 210, passing the 2008-09 (207), 2017-18 (206) and 2015-16 (205) teams.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Elijah Mattingly – 15 Points, 11 Rebounds

• Tate Ivanyo – 15 Points, 5 Rebounds

• Cam Smith – 13 Points, 1 Rebound, 1 Assist

• Bryce Williams – 12 Points, 7 Assists, 2 Rebounds, 2 Steals

• Gavin Dowling – 11 Points, 5-5 (100%) FG, 10 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block 

• Jordan Gadis – 11 Points, 2 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 1 Block

• Robert Davidson – 9 Points, 7 Rebounds, 1 Block

• Kenney Troutman – 6 Points, 6 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal

• Alex Hunt – 1 Point, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 1 Block

HCAC RACE

• Anderson beat Bluffton 93-87 and goes to 14-2

• Transylvania fell to Manchester, 91-83, and goes to 12-4

UP NEXT

The Ravens are taking on Hanover College (15-8, 11-5) in HCAC action on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in Hanover.