Raven men roll past Hanover into HCAC semifinals

The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Hanover College 65-52 in the first round of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournament on Tuesday night at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Ravens (15-11) advance to the semifinals on Friday at Defiance College. AU will play the hosts in the second semifinal at 8 p.m. The game will be carried on the internet broadcast.

The win was also the first in five years for the Ravens in the HCAC post-season tournament. Their last victory was over Wilmington in the first round of the 2002-03 tourney, where they eventually advanced to the championship game.

AU has won eight of its last nine contests. It was also the second straight victory over the Panthers this season after dropping their previous 12 meetings.

Freshman Jordan Wiseman led the Ravens with 12 points and six rebounds, hitting 4-of-9 field goals and all three of his free throws, including a 3-pointer.

Brandon Coffer came off the bench to score 11 points to go with four rebounds and a pair of assists. The junior hit half of his eight field goals and 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Ryan Fultz and Mike Russell each had nine points and Rodney Holliday added seven points off the bench. Russell finished with six rebounds, three assists and Fultz added four rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Gabe Miller led the team with four assists and Keith Dabney three blocked shots.

The Ravens shot 40 percent from the field, including 47 percent in the first half when they led 38-22. The Panthers finished at 34 percent shooting, including 33 in the second half when they outscored the hosts 30-27. Hanover missed its first 18 3-pointers in the contest and finished 2-of-23 from behind the arc.

Hanover had a 44-38 advantage on the boards, including 18-13 on the offensive glass. However, AU had the edge in assists (14-9), turnovers (6-11), blocks (5-1) and steals (5-3).

AU opened the game with a 3-pointer and never trailed in the contest, quickly building an 8-2 lead after three minutes and a 16-5 edge just eight minutes into the contest. A 6-0 run over the next minute gave them a 22-7 lead, before the Panthers responded with an 11-4 run to cut the lead to 26-18 with six minutes left in the half. However, AU used a 12-4 streak over the last six minutes to take its biggest lead of the game at 38-22.

The Ravens took their biggest lead of the night at 43-26 with 13:30 left in the game, but Hanover answered with a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to eight with 11:30 left in the contest. AU quickly pushed the lead back to double digits with a 7-0 run and took its biggest lead of the night at 64-45 with 2:30 left in the game.