Anderson Hangs Tough with Ball State

The Anderson University men's basketball team led by as many as seven points against NCAA Division I's Ball State University and carried a four-point lead into halftime, but Ball State secured an 89-76 victory against Anderson on Tuesday in Muncie.

Ball State moved to 6-6 with the win. Tuesday's game served as an exhibition for Anderson, which is currently 8-3 on the season.

The Cardinals started with an 8-0 lead. After Ball State went ahead 13-5, Anderson responded with an 8-1 run with Tate Ivanyo scoring each of the eight points. The Cardinals went up by five before Rob Davidson made a layup and Axel Laby tied the game at 18-18 with a 3-pointer with 10 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first half.

Nolan Swan made a layup to put Anderson ahead 20-18. Ball State's Jeremiah Hernandez and Swan traded 3-pointers on the following set of possessions. Anderson remained ahead for the final 7:03 of the first half. Marco Beverly knocked down a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left in the first half to give the Ravens a 43-36 lead, their biggest lead of the game. Ball State's Payton Sparks cut the deficit to four going into halftime by draining a one-footed 3-pointer.

The Cardinals opened the second half with an 8-3 run. Jermahri Hill made a layup to put Ball State back in the lead 47-46. There were four more lead changes in the following 1:39, but Ball State eventually began to gradually pull away. Trailing the Cardinals 71-64, the Ravens put together an 8-3 run to cut the lead to 74-72 with 4:46 remaining. Ball State closed the game on a 15-4 run.

"I'm disappointed with the end result, but I'm happy with the effort," Coach Carter Collins said. "We don't put a whole ton of stock into which 'division' teams are from - anybody who has spent time in the different divisions knows that great players come from everywhere, and I thought that some of the best players on the court [on Tuesday] were wearing Anderson jerseys. I felt that we had an opportunity to win, but ultimately Ball State's size wore us down inside. Still, our team gave great effort throughout the game, and we certainly don't have anything to hang our heads about."

Ball State held a 39-17 advantage in free-throw attempts, including a 26-9 advantage in the second half. The Cardinals drained 28-of-39 (71.8 percent) shots from the free-throw line while Anderson made 12-of-17 (70.6 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.

The Cardinals outrebounded the Ravens 48-36. Ball State held a 15-12 advantage in offensive rebounding, but Anderson came out ahead in second-chance points, outscoring the Cardinals 18-15.

Anderson converted 12-of-42 (28.6 percent) shots from 3-point range while Ball State hit 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) attempts from the perimeter. The Cardinals hit 26-of-59 (44.1 percent) shots from the field while the Ravens made 26-of-70 (37.1 percent) attempts from the floor.

Ivanyo paced the Ravens with 21 points. The senior from Valparaiso notched six rebounds, three steals and three assists. Swan was named Raven of the Game after scoring 15 points, one shy of his career high. Davidson tallied 11 points, eight rebounds, three steals and three assists. Beverly contributed eight points and a block. Kenney Troutman turned in six points while Bryce Williams added five points and three assists. Laby recorded three points, three steals and one block. Elisha Moore scored four points while Ayden Brobston rounded out Anderson's scoring effort with three points.

Anderson, which holds a 3-1 record in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) play, challenges HCAC co-leader Transylvania University (6-5, 4-0) in HCAC action on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Lexington, Ky.