The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Earlham College 81-74 on Tuesday night at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.

AU, ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll, was led by HCAC Male Athlete of the Month Mike Russell with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The senior hit 6-of-13 field goals and 6-of-9 from the free throw line.

Rodney Holliday had 13 points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and Gabe Miller had 10 points, three assists and two blocks. Ryne Foster came off the bench to add 13 points, two assists and three blocks in just 12 minutes.

The Ravens shot 56 percent from the field, including 58 percent in the first half and 70 percent (28-of-40) from 2-point range. Earlham finished at 44 percent shooting, including 10-of-28 from 3-point range.

The Quakers won the battle of the boards 37-29, including 11-4 on the offensive glass. Earlham also had the edge in assists (18-15), but AU had the advantage in turnovers (13-21), points off turnovers (22-14), blocks (5-2), steals (12-10), points in the paint (52-22) and bench points (29-24).

AU (10-3, 3-1 HCAC) hosts Defiance on Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. The game will be carried live on WQME 98.7 FM and the internet broadcast at 3 p.m.

Anderson University’s Mike Russell has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Men’s Player of the Month for December 2008.

The senior led the Ravens to a 6-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in HCAC play during the month, averaging 23 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, including five games of 20-plus points.

Included in his accolades for the month, Russell earned HCAC Player of the Week in men’s basketball twice, was on the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week on Dec. 14, and set a career-high with 38 points in a victory over Mt. St. Joseph.

Overall, he shot 49 percent from the field, 45 percent from 3-point range and 82 percent from the free throw line in December. He leads the HCAC in scoring at 27 points per game and holds a 20-point average for the entire season.

Russell is the fourth Anderson male to win the HCAC Player of the Month award and is the ninth basketball player to receive the award. The HCAC Player of the Month award is in its fourth year of existence and is voted on by the Sports Information Directors in the conference.

Anderson University’s Mike Russell has been named the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week in men’s basketball on Monday.

The Senior averaged 23 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.3 steals in three games over the Christmas break, including an 83-77 victory over No. 7 Elmhurst on Saturday in which he scored 30 points.

Russell also had 25 points in a victory at Texas Lutheran and for the week shot 45 percent from the field, 42 percent from behind the arc and 80 percent from the free throw line.

AU (9-3, 3-1 HCAC) hosts Earlham on Tuesday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. The game will be carried live on WQME 98.7 FM and the internet broadcast at 7:30 p.m.

For the third time this season, the Anderson University men’s basketball team hosted a Top-7 team in the NCAA Div. III national polls, but for the first time they came away victorious.

The Ravens defeated No. 7 Elmhurst 83-77 on Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. Their previous two losses came to No. 1 Wisconsin-Platteville and No. 4 Washington, Mo., - both by two points.

Mike Russell led the Ravens with 30 points, two rebounds, two assists and four steals, hitting 10-of-23 shots from the field. The senior also had four 3-pointers and made 6-of-7 from the free throw line.

Andrew Jones had 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds, hitting 6-of-11 field goals and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. Ryne Foster came off the bench to add 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers in the second half.

Ty Riddle and Rodney Holliday chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively, and Jordan Wiseman had five points and four rebounds. Brandon Coffer had a team-high three assists while Holiday had three steals.

AU shot 46 percent from the field, including 7-of-16 from 3-point range. The Ravens also made 24-of-31 from the free throw line. Elmhurst finished at 48 percent shooting, including 54 percent in the second half, but was only 7-of-21 from 3-point range.

The Bluejays outrebounded the Ravens 39-32, including 15-13 on the offensive glass. Elmhurst also had the edge in assists (19-13), second chance points (22-14) and blocks (4-3), but Anderson had the advantage in turnovers (12-18), points off turnovers (18-10) and steals (12-2).

AU led for most of the first half, including 33-29 at the intermission. The Ravens led by as many as seven points early in the first half at 51-44, but a 7-0 run tied the game at 51 with 12 minutes left in the game. The Bluejays used an 8-3 run midway through the half to take their biggest lead of the contest at 64-59 with eight minutes left.

The Ravens tied the game for the sixth time at 72 on a layup by Riddle with 3:30 left and took the lead for good on an 18-foot jumper by Russell with 2:18 remaining. Russell added a three-point play to push the lead to five and the Ravens hit 6-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

AU (9-3) hosts Earlham on Tuesday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium. The game will be carried live on the internet broadcast at 7:30 p.m.

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 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).

Anderson University’s Mike Russell has been named to the five-man d3hoops.com National Team of the Week on Tuesday.

The senior averaged 25 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals in two games last week against HCAC foes Rose-Hulman and Hanover.

For the week, Russell made 15-of-30 field goals (50 percent) and 11-of-20 from 3-point range (55 percent). For the season, Russell leads the league’s highest scoring team at 27 points per game and ranks second in the HCAC.

AU (5-3, 3-1 HCAC) plays Trine University at Conseco Fieldhouse on Friday night. The game will be carried live on the internet broadcast from Indianapolis after the Pacers-Clippers game at approxmiately 9:30 p.m.

The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference rival Hanover College 79-73 on Saturday at O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.

Senior and HCAC leading scorer Mike Russell led the Ravens with 25 points, three rebounds and two steals, hitting 8-of-18 shots from the field, including 6-of-14 from 3-point range.

Ryan Fultz had 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Rodney Holliday added 15 points, six rebounds, including 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

The Ravens hit 21-of-25 free throws in the game, including their final 17 points of the contest (in 20 attempts) over the final seven minutes. Hanover finished at 13-of-17 from the charity stripe.

Hanover shot 50 percent from the field, but only 4-of-18 from 3-point range. AU finished at 41 percent shooting and was 10-of-29 from behind the arc. The Panthers had a 35-31 edge on the boards, but the Ravens had a 9-6 edge on the offensive glass.

Hanover had the advantage in assists (18-13), but AU had the lead in turnovers (8-16) and steals (8-1).

AU (5-3, 3-1 HCAC) plays Trine University on Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse after the Indiana Pacers game. The game will be carried live on the internet broadcast at approximately 10 p.m.

The Anderson University men’s basketball team defeated Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Rose-Hulman 79-73 in overtime on Wednesday night at Hulbert Arena in Terre Haute.

Mike Russell led the Ravens with 25 points, four assists and two steals, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range.

Andrew Jones and Brock Morrison each had 13 points, six rebounds and Gabe Miller was also in double figures with 10 points, three assists and two steals. Ryan Fultz added eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and Rodney Holliday chipped in with six points and five rebounds.

AU shot 44 percent from the field compared to 47 percent for Rose-Hulman. The Ravens had a 42-30 advantage on the boards, including 13-6 on the offensive glass. AU made 25-of-35 free throws while the Engineers made only 9-of-14 from the line.

AU led 36-24 at the half and continued to have the advantage throughout the second half. Rose used a 15-4 run to take its first lead of the half with five minutes left at 60-58. Brock Morrison’s basket gave the Ravens a 67-65 lead with just under a minute left and Miller added a free throw to make it a three-point game. However, Rose forced overtime with a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

The teams traded a free throw early in overtime before a 3-pointer by Russell started a 7-0 run and gave the Ravens the lead for good. Morrison added a basket and Miller a pair of free throws in the run to seal the victory.

AU (4-3, 2-1 HCAC) hosts Hanover on Saturday. The game will be carried live on WQME 98.7 FM and the internet broadcast at 3 p.m.