The Central Methodist University men's basketball team had its 12-point halftime lead erased in the first six minutes of the second half, and Benedictine College held on late for a 63-62 win over the Runnin' Eagles Saturday evening.
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Central Methodist jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first half behind four three pointers, including three by senior Curtis Smith (LaBelle, Mo.). The Runnin' Eagles extended their lead to as many as 14 points at 23-9 with 10:49 left in the first half after a layup by junior Evan Lavery (Dyer, Ind.). Benedictine scored the next eight points to cut the lead to six. CMU went on a 13-4 run to take its largest lead of the game at 36-21, capped by a pair of baskets by senior Lucas Dahl (Jefferson City, Mo.), before ending the first half with a 38-26 lead.
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In the second half, Benedictine came out on fire shooting to outscore CMU 14-3 in the opening six minutes. The Eagles tied the game at 42-42, but the Ravens quickly regained the lead and extended it to as many as seven at 57-50 with 6:57 left in the game. The Eagles rallied with nine unanswered points, including five by senior Clint Hamilton (Pflugerville, Texas), to regain a two-point lead with 1:39 remaining. Benedictine tied the game with a basket. After a pair of missed free throws by CMU, the Ravens made a three-pointer with 24 seconds left to take a 62-59 lead. Benedictine added another free throw with seven seconds left to made it a four-point game. Senior Tyler Bredehoeft (Alma, Mo.) drained a long three-pointer with less than a second left, and Benedictine was able to hang on for the win.
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CMU shot 47.1 percent from the field in the game, including 57.7 percent in the first half. Benedictine finished with 49 percent shooting in the game, including 60.9 percent in the second half. The Runnin' Eagles made 5-of-7 three-pointers in the first half, but were just 2-of-9 from beyond the arc in the second half, while Benedictine made 4-of-8 three-pointers in the second half after going 0-of-5 in the first half. Central Methodist was out-rebounded 30-28, but outscored Benedictine 12-4 in second-chance points in the game.
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Smith led CMU with 15 points and seven rebounds in the game, while Dahl and Hamilton finished with 11 points each. Dahl also added three steals, two blocked shots and two assists.
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Central Methodist dropped to 6-12 on the season and 1-7 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play, while Benedictine improved to 9-7 overall and 5-1 in the HAAC. The Runnin' Eagles will be back in action Tuesday at MidAmeriica Nazarene University for a game that was postponed from Jan. 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Olathe, Kan.