Box Score The Mount St. Joseph University men's b asketball team won a program-best 19th game tonight, and maintained their slim lead on first place in the HCAC standings, recording an 82-69 win at Anderson University. The Mount, 19-5 overall, 14-3 in the conference, is in first place with a one game lead over Defiance College (13-4 HCAC) with one game left for both teams. The Lions will conclude 2014-2015 regular season play on Feb. 21 with a game at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (14-10 Overall, 10-7 HCAC).
The Mount's win on Wednesday night against the Ravens gave them a program-best 19th victory, besting the program's 1999-2000 season final overall mark of 18-8. The Mount looks to solidify their first seed for the Feb. 27-28/March 1 HCAC Tournament with a win on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Rose-Hulman. The Mount, Defiance, Anderson, Rose-Hulman and Hanover have clinched a berth in the conference tournament.
The Ravens jumped out to an early lead in the game against the Lions, before the Mount fought back behind a balanced team effort on the offensive end. A basket by Erik Edwards (Cincinnati, OH/Roger Bacon) at 13:42 of the first place gave the Lions an 11-10 edge, and they would build that lead to double-digits by 5:46 on a three-ponter by Joel Scudder (Greendale, IN/South Dearborn). The Lions would go scoreless after that basket, with Anderson cutting the deficit to 31-26 with just over three minutes left in the half. That Mount five-point lead would hold up until the half, as both teams shot 36 percent from the field, the Mount holding a 22-16 lead on the boards, and hitting six-of-eight free throws to the Ravens' one-of-two from the charity stripe.
The two teams battled for the lead throughout the opening minutes of the second half, with the Ravens getting key inside baskets against the Lions, enabling them to grab the lead and hold that advantage until Ken Kunkel (Cincinnati, OH/Colerian) knotted the score at 40-all with a jump shot at 14:20. Anderson hit a three-pointer on their next possession to re-take the lead, but Kunkel scored the game's next six points to give the Mount a 47-43 lead with 12:32 to play in the game. The Mount held the lead the rest of the game, including holding a 67-56 advantage with 3:29 to play after a lay-up by Mark Allen (Cincinnati, OH/Northwest). The lead would remain at double-digits the rest of the game, as the Lions iced the win by hitting eight of their last 10 free throw attempts.
Kunkel finished with a game-high 28 points and six rebounds while Thompson added 24 points and six rebounds Scudder chipped in 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds while Allen recorded a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The Mount was 27-of-32 from the free throw line while Anderson converted four-of-seven from the free throw line in the game. The Lions also held a 42-28 rebounding advantage in the game.
