The Anderson University men’s basketball team will travel to Alma College on Monday for the season-opener at 7:30 p.m.

The Ravens return two starters and seven lettermen from last year’s team, which finished 15-12 overall and 7-9 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and advanced to the semifinal round of the conference tournament.

Junior Andrew Jones is the leading returnee, averaging 11.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 2008-09. Junior Gabe Miller is the other returning starter, averaging six points, 3.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game last year.

Other lettermen include senior Josh Bellamy juniors Ty Riddle (7.3 ppg), Zach Gray and sophomores Brock Morrision (4.8 pppg, 3.1 rpg) and Marcus Bledsoe.

Newcomers are Andrew Bowman (Greenwood), Grant Fulton (Highland), Ryan Harter (Anderson), Michael Horner (Liberty Christian), Kyle Morgan (Rushville) and Tommy Strine (Lakewood Park).

After the opener, the Ravens host Kalamazoo on Saturday in the home opener at 7 p.m. They host Defiance in the HCAC opener (Dec. 2) and play non-conference home games against Augustana (Nov. 28), Wittenburg (Dec. 12), Trine (Dec. 19) and Oberlin (Dec. 3o) as well as road dates with Platteville (Nov. 24) and Earlham (Dec. 21) before New Years Day.

They finish the HCAC schedule with a road game at Hanover (Feb. 20) before the conference tournament starts the following week.

The Ravens are led by fifth-year head coach Tom Slyder, who has a 47-58 record.

The Anderson University women’s basketball team will open the 2009-10 season with a road date at St. Mary’s College on Tuesday night in South Bend at 7 p.m.

The Ravens return two starters and eight lettermen from last year’s 15-11 team that finished in second place in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference with a 12-4 mark.

Senior Tiffany Bowsher is the leading returnee, averaging 9.4 points and a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game last season. The forward has been All-Conference the last two years and was on the All-Freshman team her first season. Junior Lauren Leisure is the other returning starter, averaging 7.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 2008-09.

Other returning lettermen include seniors Laura Baden (3.5 ppg, 2.4 rpg), Shawna Wuethrich, junior Ellen Thompson (5.1 ppg, 3 rpg) and sophomores Hannah Wickard, Kate Barwick, Danielle Eng and Brittany Stafford.

Newcomers to the team this season are Courtney Prater (Lapel), Amanda Didier (Fort Wayne), Brooke Edwards (Rushville), Stephanie Geeting (Winchester), Melissa Stachovic (Tucson, Ariz.) and Amy and Ashley Wuestefeld (Batesville).

After the opener, The Ravens host their own Tip-Off Tournament on Friday and Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. They open HCAC play at Defiance (Dec. 2) and play thre conference and three non-conference games before traveling to Orange, Calif., over the Christmas break for a pair of games (Dec. 29-30). They finish the regular season with a home date against Hanover (Feb. 20) with the HCAC post-season tournament starting the following week.

The Anderson University football team lost to Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Manchester College 31-17 on Saturday at Burt Stadium in North Manchester in the Bronze Ball Game.

Nick Sharp led the Ravens with 299 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns, completing 20-of-39 passes in relief. AU threw for 320 yards in the game.

Nick Jackson and Keith Thomas both cracked the 100-yard receiving mark and Zac Brunnemer led the Ravens with nine receptions for 89 yards. Jackson finished with three catches for 107 yards, including an 82-yard TD, and Thomas added four catches for 101 yards, including a 49-yard TD.

Luke Hurst had a 55-yard run on a fake punt and senior John Sims led the backs with 34 yards rushing.

AU outgained Manchester in the game 392-356, including 320-204 through the air. However, the Ravens lost the turnover battle 4-1, including three fumbles.

Tristan Cork booted a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter in his final game. The kick was the second longest in school history and he has four of the five longest field goals in school history, including a school-record 51-yarder.

Hurst led the defense with 16 tackles and a pass breakup and finished the season with a team-high 101 stops. Todd Taylor had 12 tackles and Ryan Hildenbrand added 10 stops. Leonard Wells chipped in with eight tackles, including his team-high 11th sack of the season.

AU finishes the season 1-9 overall and 1-6 in the HCAC.

The Anderson University men’s cross country team finished 13th in the 38-team NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Terre Haute.

Kirk Saunders led the Ravens with a 28th place finish in a time of 26:42.45 and Jake Wyatt was right behind him in 29th place in 26:45.81.

Other AU finishers were Bill Digman (57th, 27:17.43), Jeff Vibbert (101st, 27:54.12), Eric Linn (147th, 28:31.70), Taylor Holmes (149th, 28:34.02) and Emby Duncan (157th, 28:44.26).

The Anderson University cross country team finished 24th at the NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championships on Saturday in Terre Haute.

Ashley Bordner led the Ravens with a 74th place finish in a time of 24:32.05.

Other AU finishers were Erica Moffitt (78th, 24:34.55), Courtney Clevenger (126th, 25:26.41), Ashley Casterline (191st, 27:29.25) and Kayla Miller (197th, 27:48).

Haley McCracken looked at the seat she had been sitting in just one year before — before she graduated from Anderson University, before her mother passed away and before she even thought of going to Israel with the Jeeninga Fellowship of Archeology. A year ago she sat in the seat in front of her, listening to Shannon New-Spangler share about her experience in Israel. Little did McCracken know then about the trials and triumphs the year held for her. In one year she would be standing in front of Dr. David Niedert’s archeology class at sharing about her own experience in Israel.

FSB Visit Day

• Date: November 13

Anderson University soccer players David Droeger, Austin Fridley and Matt Young were named to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference 1st Team for the 2009 season on Thursday.

Droeger led the Ravens with six goals and 15 points and was second in assists (3) and shots (42) while Young topped the Ravens in shots (51) and had three goals, two assists and eight points. Fridley had three goals, three assists, nine points and 42 shots.

Matt Robinson and Stephen Brown were named to the All-HCAC 2nd Team. Robinson led the team with four assists and was third with three goals and 10 points. Brown had seven shots.

Ruben Oliva was named the Freshman of the Year. The rookie was second on the team in goals (4) and points (11) and fourth with 34 shots.

AU finished 8-11-1 overall and 5-3 in the HCAC. They lost to HCAC champion Transylvania in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

For two Falls School of Business students, classroom education has found a very practical application, pancakes! With the help of some of their Anderson University Falls School of Business professors, senior Graham Brown and Residential MBA student Josh MacInnes turned their dream of opening a pancake restaurant into a reality last April. Utilizing an empty restaurant space near campus, a couple dozen griddles, and all the creativity they could muster, Brown and MacInnes took a family pancake recipe and turned it into a thriving business on the weekends, aptly titled The Flop.

The 2010 Harp Professor in Residence for the Anderson University School of Theology will be Dr. Wendy Porter, director of worship and music, McMaster Divinity College, Ontario, Canada. Porter will be on the Church of God seminary campus April 11-15, 2010.