Raven men extend HCAC win streak to six at Rose
February 13th, 2008
The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Rose-Hulman 49-44 on Wednesday night at Hulbert Arena in Terre Haute.
The Ravens defeated the Engineers 60-46 in the first meeting of the season between the two teams in Anderson. It was also the sixth straight HCAC victory for the Ravens - their longest conference winning streak since the 2002-03 season.
The Ravens trail Transylvania by a half game for second place in the HCAC standings. The top two teams receive a bye in the six-team post-season tournament with the No. 3 and 4 seeds hosting first round games on Feb. 26. The Ravens can clinch a home game with wins over Franklin and Manchester in the final two regular season games.
Ryan Fultz led the Ravens with 14 points and four rebounds, hitting 5-of-10 field goals. Mike Russell was also in double figures with 12 points, four rebounds, two blocks and three steals.
Keith Dabney led the Ravens with nine rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, to go with seven points and a pair of steals.
AU shot 36 percent from the field while Rose-Hulman was at 42 percent shooting. The Ravens had the advantage on the boards 34-31, including 17-12 on the offensive glass. The visitors also had the edge in assists (9-8), turnovers (17-18) and steals (12-6).
The Engineers scored the first seven points of the game as the Ravens missed their first four shots and committed four turnovers in the first five minutes of the game. AU responded with a 10-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 12-9 lead and led by as many as 10 points at 28-18 with five minutes left in the half. Rose-Hulman scored the final seven points of the period to cut the lead to 28-25 at the intermission.
The Ravens pushed the lead back to as many as eight points at 41-33 with eight minutes left in the game. The Engineers finally got the deficit under four at 45-42 with two minutes left and closed to within a single point at 45-44 with a minute remaining in the contest.
Russell’s layup with 44 seconds left made it a three-point advantage for AU and Rose-Hulman missed three field goals before Fultz hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.
AU (13-10, 9-5 HCAC) hosts Franklin on Saturday. The game will be carried live on WQME 98.7 FM and the internet broadcast at 3 p.m.
