Posted: Jan 14, 2012
In the early going, the Runnin' Eagles' (7-10, 1-5 HAAC) Alex Barner made a three to make score 11-9 in favor of visitors. Robert Mason drained a deep three to give�the home�team a 14-13 advantage nine minutes into the game.
Chris McFaul hit a shot from behind the arc in transition to give�the Ravens (10-7, 5-1 HAAC)�a 21-16 upper hand with six minutes left on the clock in the first half. Quaran Johnson hit a trey from the top of the key to give the Ravens a 24-18 lead at the 3:30 mark.
Central Methodist's Derek Kitch hit a 15-foot jumper with 30 seconds remaining, but the visitors took a 27-23 advantage into halftime.
A Jallen Messersmith two-handed drunk was answered by a Mason trey to make the score 36-33 in favor of the Ravens four minutes into the second half.
A 10-0 run by the Ravens halfway into the final period, finished off when�McFaul�found the bottom of the net on a fade-away three-point attempt, gave the visitors a double-digit upper hand, 50-35.
Central Methodist started the comeback attempt with seven minutes left in the game. A 6-0 spurt by the Runnin' Eagles, completed by Melvin Tillman's putback with 6:20 left, cut the deficit to single digits, 50-41. An old-fashioned three-point play by Elliott Black trimmed Benedictine's lead to 52-44 with a little more than five minutes remaining in the game.
FIve straight Central Methodist points, including�a Franklin bank shot and free throw followed by a Mason layup, made the deficit 56-51 at the 2:20 mark. Kitch recorded an old-fashioned three point play with 90 seconds left to cut the margin to four points, 58-54, but the Ravens converted free throws down the stretch to seal the game.
Johnson finished with 13 points. McFaul and Charlie Wallrapp had 12 apiece. Alex Miller scored 10.
Mason tallied a game-high 15 points. Franklin and Black had 13 and 12, respectively.
Benedictine shot 21-of-49 (42.9%) from the field. The Runnin' Eagles hit 21-of-57 (36.8%) from the floor.
Central Methodist will travel to Culver-Stockton on Thursday, Jan. 19. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
