Men's Basketball drops season opener to (RV) Southwestern

WINFIELD – (RV) Southwestern College limited Benedictine Men's Basketball from behind the arc in the second half on Saturday as the Moundbuilders earned a season-opening win over the Ravens.

After hitting 7 3-pointers in the first half, the Ravens went 1 of 14 in the second half to see a 3-point halftime deficit turn into a 15-point loss as the Moundbuilders earned a 67-52 win.

A 3-pointer from Preston Reynolds pushed Benedictine to a 14-9 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the first half. That proved to be the Ravens largest lead of the game. 

Benedictine maintained their lead for close to a six-minute stretch after pulling ahead by five before Southwestern took over at 17-16. That lead was short-lived as Benedictine regained the lead on a basket from Jack Vander Woude. 

After trading the lead on 3-pointers, the Moundbuilders took over the lead at 28-27 with just over 3 minutes remaining in the first before taking a 3-point lead into the break.

The Ravens were never able to regain the lead in the second half. Brycen LaRue pulled the Ravens even at 44-all nearly seven minutes into the second half before Southwestern gradually pulled away.

LaRue led the Ravens with 12 points, followed by Haggan Hilgendorf who finished with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Vander Woude added 9 points to round out the Ravens scoring effort.

Benedictine remains on the road, traveling to Parkville, Mo., on Friday and Saturday for a par of classic games hosted by Park University. The Ravens take on future Heart member William Woods on Friday at 3 p.m. before taking on No. 7 Georgetown (Ky.) at 2 p.m. Saturday.

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