The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Howard Payne 93-78 on Tuesday in the second of their two-game holiday trip in Brownwood, Tex.

Ty Riddle led the Ravens with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists, hitting a school-record tying nine 3-pointers in 14 attempts. The record is shared by current AU senior Mike Russell and former player Brent Ross.

Rodney Holliday had 26 points and 11 rebounds, hitting 10-of-13 shots and 3-of-3 free throws, including all three of his 3-point attempts. Russell finished with 14 points and a team-high six assists, making 5-of-11 field goals.

Andrew Jones had nine points and Brandon Coffer eight rebounds. Jordan Wiseman added six points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

AU shot 58 percent from the field, including 62 percent in the first half when it led 58-41. Riddle made seven of his 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. The Ravens finished the game 14-of-27 from behind the arc. Howard Payne shot 50 percent from the field.

AU doubled Howard Payne on the boards 40-20, including 13-3 on the offensive glass. The Ravens also had the advantage in assists (20-16) and bench points (36-12).

AU (8-3) hosts No. 17 Elmhurst on Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. The game will be carried live on the internet broadcast at 3 p.m.

The Anderson University men’s basketball team opened its two-game Texas road-trip with an 84-79 victory over Texas Lutheran on Sunday at Memorial Gymnasium in Seguin, Tex.

Mike Russell led the Ravens with 25 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals, hitting 8-of-17 shots from the field. The senior guard made 6-of-11 from 3-point range and 3-of-5 from the free throw line.

Andrew Jones had 16 points and a pair of steals, hitting half of his eight field goals and all eight of his free throw attempts. Rodney Holliday was also in double figures with 11 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Jordan Wiseman added eight points, five rebounds, two steals and Gabe Miller chipped in with six points, four rebounds and five assists. Brock Morrison came off the bench to add nine points and six rebounds.

AU shot 41 percent from the field, including 46 percent in the second half and 8-of-20 from the 3-point line. Lutheran finished at 48 percent shooting, including 50 in the second half.

The Ravens made 28-of-36 from the free throw line while Lutheran made 15-of-25 from the charity stripe. Texas won the battle of the boards 40-37 and also had the advantage in assists (16-14), blocks (6-3), steals (13-12), points in the paint (34-26) and off the bench (43-18).

AU (7-3) finishes its two-game trip on Tuesday at Howard Payne College at 7:30 p.m.

The Anderson University women’s basketball team lost to Case Western College 68-49 on Sunday in the consolation game of the Smokey Ballenger Classic at the Rike Center in Westerville, Ohio.

Mel Hawthorne led the Ravens with 18 points, three rebounds and three steals, hitting 6-of-19 field goals, including a pair of 3-pointers. She senior was named to the All-Tournament team.

Tiffany Bowsher had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 4-of-10 shots from the field. Kayla Martin added eight points and 10 rebounds, making 3-of-13 field goals.

AU shot just 23 percent from the field and only 3-of-15 from 3-point range. Case Western finished at 37 percent shooting, including 27-of-32 free throws.

Anderson had a 43-41 advantage on the boards, including 19-9 on the offensive end. The Ravens also had the edge in steals (12-11), but the Spartans had the advantage in assists (11-8), blocks (9-1) and points in the paint (26-15).

AU (5-6) travels to Adrian on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The Anderson University women’s basketball team lost to host Otterbein College 80-59 on Saturday in the Smokey Ballinger Classic at the Rike Center in Westerville, Ohio.

Mel Hawthorne led the Ravens with 13 points, six rebounds and two blocks, hitting 5-of-16 field goals. Mandy Seward had 12 points, three rebounds, seven assists and seven steals, making 4-of-8 shots.

Tiffany Bowsher was also in double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds, hitting 5-of-7 field goals. Lauren Leisure added seven points and Kayla Martin six rebounds.

Otterbein shot 56 percent from the field, including 59 percent in the second half. AU finished at 35 percent shooting, including only 30 in the first half when it was outscored 39-23.

The Cardinals had a 39-36 advantage in rebounds, but the Ravens had a 15-9 edge on the offensive glass. Otterbein had the lead in assists (24-10) and blocks (4-3) while the Ravens had the advantage in turnovers (19-22) and steals (14-9).

AU led early in the game 15-12, hitting its first four field goals of the game. However, the Cardinals used a 15-0 run to take control of the game and had a 25-4 spurt to take a 39-23 lead at the half.

AU (5-5) will play Case Western on Sunday in the consolation game at 1 p.m.

Anderson University administrative offices will be closed to observe the Christmas and New Year’s holidays beginning Tuesday, December 23, at 5 p.m. and will re-open on Monday, January 5, 2008. Campus security officers will maintain normal hours during the extended holiday.

The Development Office will be open December 29, 30 and December 31 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. to accept year-end contributions. Persons desiring to access the AU Development office during this time will need to enter Decker Hall through the northwest door of the building breezeway. Directional signs will be posted for visitors. The Development office is located on the second floor of Decker Hall. Please call the Development office at 765-641-4053 or 1-800-421-1025 for more detailed information.

Anderson University’s Mel Hawthorne has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week in women’s basketball on Monday.

The senior posted a double-double on Saturday in a 71-60 victory at Earlham, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three blocks.

For the season, Hawthorne leads the HCAC in scoring at 19.3 points per game. She also tops the Ravens in rebounding at eight caroms per contest.

AU plays at Otterbein on Saturday at 6 p.m.

[Nick Pease is a student at Anderson University and is currently serving in Afghanistan.]

I can’t deny it, I won’t deny it and you can’t change my mind: I love Christmas.

I’m a fan of holidays in general — most mean either presents, great food or knocking on strangers’ doors for candy — all good things in my book. But, wow, do I love Christmas!

The Anderson University women’s basketball team defeated Earlham College 71-60 on Saturday afternoon at Schuckman Court in Richmond.

Mel Hawthorne led the Ravens with 21 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, three blocks and four steals, hitting 7-of-18 shots and 5-of-6 free throws, including two 3-pointers.

Tiffany Bowsher also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. The junior made 5-of-10 shots and grabbed eight offensive rebounds. Lauren Leisure had 16 points and three rebounds, including three 3-pointers.

Kayla Martin added 14 points, eight rebounds and Mandy Seward had a season-high 12 assists to go with two points, three rebounds, two blocks and three steals.

The Ravens trailed 57-55 with five minutes left in the game, but Hawthorne scored the first five points of a 9-0 run that gave the visitors the lead for good. AU finished the game on a 16-3 spurt as the Quakers missed five of their last six shots in the contest.

AU shot 41 percent from the field, including 47 percent in the second half when it outscored Earlham 41-33. The Quakers finished at 41 percent shooting, but only 34 percent in the first half when the Ravens had a 30-27 lead.

The Ravens made half of their 10 3-pointers while the Quakers made only 8-of-28 from behind the arc. AU also made 16-of-18 from the free throw line compared to only 4-of-9 by Earlham.

AU had a 43-33 advantage on the boards, including 18-14 on the offensive glass. The Ravens also had the edge in assists (18-14), turnovers (14-18), blocks (7-0), steals (9-6), points off turnovers (20-8) and second chance points (21-7).

AU (5-4) travels to the Otterbein Invitational on Dec. 27. They will play the hosts on Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Trine University 69-52 on Friday night at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Mike Russell led the Ravens with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists, hitting half of his 10 field goals, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range. Andrew Jones also had 14 points and six rebounds, including 4-of-4 from the free throw line.

Brandon Coffer led AU with 10 rebounds and Gabe Miller had a team-best six assists to go with six points. Jordan Wiseman added eight points, four rebounds, three blocks and Ryne Foster chipped in with seven points off the bench in just 11 minutes.

AU shot 38 percent from the field, including 42 percent in the first half when it led 39-31. Trine finished at 35 percent shooting, including 32 in the second half when it was outscored 30-21. The Ravens made 8-of-29 3-pointers while the Thunder were 6-of-18 from behind the arc.

The Ravens won the battle of the boards 45-40, including 12-9 on the offensive glass. AU also had the advantage in assists (15-14), turnovers (11-16), blocks (5-1) and steals (8-7).

The game started at almost 11 p.m., following the Indiana Pacers double overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers at Conseco.

AU (6-3) travels to Texas over the holidays for a pair of games against Texas Lutheran (Dec. 28) and Howard Payne (Dec. 30).

Beth Fortune, a former gubernatorial press secretary and political reporter, has been named Vanderbilt University’s vice chancellor for public affairs, a position she has held on an interim basis for the past six months, Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos announced Wednesday.