Men's Basketball won a thriller at home Saturday night.
The Ravens defeated the William Penn University Statesmen, 78-73, to start off the conference slate on the right foot.
The Ravens trailed for the bulk of the first 30 minutes of the contest but turned the tide with just over 10 minutes left to play in the game.
Brycen LaRue and Jared Lee hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Ravens in front 55-53 at the 10:14 mark of the second half.
The Ravens pushed their lead to 7 points with just over 4 minutes to play, but the Statesmen had an answer. Penn chipped away at the Ravens lead and with 52 seconds to play, the visitors made a pair of free throws to take a 73-72 lead.
The Ravens responded to the situation as LaRue drove to the paint for a bucket, was fouled and made the free throw to give the Ravens a 2-point lead. The defense finished the job, keeping the Statesmen from scoring another point. Deaglan Sullivan made three free throws in the final seconds to close out the 5-point win.
Sullivan had a team-high 21 points, plus 7 rebounds and 3 steals. LaRue scored 16 and had 3 assists. Preston Reynolds also reached double-figures with 12 points and he added 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Lee's 7 points were a key spark off the bench, and Bence Duka's 5 assists led the team. The Ravens had 21 assists on 31 field goals.
The Ravens didn't shoot the ball well from 3-point range (5-of-22) or the free throw line (11-20), but they made the key plays down the stretch for the win, overcoming Penn's ability to get to the line as the visitors were 23-33 from the charity stripe.
The first half saw both teams have stretches of strong play, battling to the final buzzer. After a Penn free throw with 5 seconds left on the clock, the Ravens ran a perfect inbounds play that saw Sullivan race three-quarters of the court for a layup to beat the clock and pull the Ravens within 2 points at 37-35.
The Ravens scored 26 points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes and finished with 50 inside points in the game.
The Ravens will remain at home for their next game, a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19 contest against (RV) MidAmerica Nazarene University.