AU men clinch HCAC tourney home game at Manchester
February 20th, 2008
The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Manchester College 81-71 on Wednesday night at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena in North Manchester.
The victory clinched a top-four seed and a first-round home game in the six-team HCAC post-season tournament. The Ravens finished loop play at 10-6, tying their most conference wins in HCAC history.
Ryan Fultz led the Ravens with 19 points, hitting 6-of-10 field goals and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, including a pair of 3-pointers.
Brandon Coffer had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists off the bench. Mike Russell and Andrew Jones each added 11 points, including a team-high eight rebounds and four assists by Russell.
Both teams shot 47 percent from the field, but the Ravens were 21-of-30 from the line compared to 11-of-14 by the Spartans. AU finished 10-of-24 from behind the 3-point line and had the advantage in assists (14-13), turnovers (9-10) and blocks (7-4).
AU finishes the regular season at 14-11 overall. The first round of the HCAC tournament is Feb. 26 with the semifinals and finals at regular season champion Defiance on Feb. 29 and Mar. 1.
