The Benedictine men’s basketball team had its season come to an end Wednesday night in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.  The No. 16 Ravens lost their opener to 19th-ranked Montana Western 80-77 to end their season 24-9.

Benedictine raced out to a big lead as they used a 13-0 run and led 27-13 halfway through the first half.  BC and Montana Western traded baskets and then the Bulldogs went on an 18-2 run to take the lead and were ahead at halftime 43-39.

The Ravens took an early lead in the second half, 46-45, but then Montana Western used a 10-2 run to take the lead and they never gave it back.

BC fell behind by as many as ten points before battling back and they pulled to within one point, three different times but could never take the lead.

John Harris, Jr. led Benedictine with 17 points, while Connor Flemming added 13 points.

Montana Western’s Stephen McCall had a big night with 36 points as the Bulldogs improve to 23-9 and they advance to play No. 1 seed Hope International at 6:15 p.m. Friday night in the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.