Men's Basketball wins second straight road game with 63-59 win over MNU

OLATHE – Benedictine Men's Basketball held off a late push from MNU on Saturday as they earned their second straight win in Heart play.

After leading by 5 points at the break, the Ravens held their lead through the second half en route to a 63-59 win over the Pioneers.

The teams played through four lead changes for MNU took an 18-11 lead over Benedictine with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

Benedictine answered with a 12-0 run sparked by 4 points from Preston Reynolds and 6 points from Haggen Hilgendorf that erased the deficit and pushed the Ravens to a 3-point lead. The Ravens extended the lead to as much as 9 on a basket from Brycen LaRue before MNU closed that lead down to 5 at the halftime break.

The Ravens first-half effort was fueled by forcing the Pioneers into 7 first-half turnovers that led to a 10-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

Benedictine held the lead for the entire second half of the game pushing into double figures at 11 for the first time on a fastbreak basket from Larry Parker III. Less than 2 minutes later, Gino Corridori pushed Benedictine's lead to 13 points, 51-38, near the midpoint of the half. 

MNU was able to chip away at Benedictine's lead thanks to a change in defensive pressure that closed the gap to 2 points with just under 4 minutes left in the game. Ezrah Viagafa connected on a 3-pointer to put Benedictine back ahead by 5 points and the Ravens were able to put the game away from the free-throw line. The Ravens were able to convert on 5 of 6 free throws over the final 44 seconds of the game to hold off the late push by MNU.

Hilgendorf led the Ravens with a game-high 14 points, followed by LaRue with 11. The balanced offensive effort continued with Corridori at 9 points, Jack Vander Woude at 8 points, Deaglan Sullivan at 7 points and Viagafa and Reynolds at points.

All of Benedictine's second-half free throw attempts came over the final 44 seconds as they finished the game 11 of 14 with 6 3-pointers and a 50 percent effort from the floor.

Benedictine returns home for the next two Heart games, hosting Missouri Valley College on Wednesday and Mount Mercy University on Saturday. This week marks the annual Christmas Joy Drive with more information set to be released on Monday or Tuesday regarding how the community can get involved in the Christmas tradition.

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