Needing just one more win to clinch their first-ever outright HAAC championship, the No. 9-ranked Raven men’s basketball team hit the road on Thursday to take on No. 15-ranked Culver-Stockton College in their final regular-season road game.

Benedictine (20-7, 13-4 HAAC) gave up a season-high 96 points to Culver-Stockton (21-6, 12-5 HAAC) as the Wildcats came out firing en route to a 96-81 win.

After Charlie Wallrapp converted a pair of free throws just under two minutes into the game, the Ravens led 2-0 before a 3-pointer from Culver-Stockton’s James Johnson gave the Wildcats their first lead, 3-2, seconds later.

That 3-pointer sparked a 22-3 run that allowed the Wildcats to take control of the game.

Benedictine was limited to just seven points over the first nine minutes of the game as the Wildcats held the Ravens scoreless from the field.

Back-to-back baskets from John Harris Jr. and Wallrapp gave Benedictine its first field goals of the opening half and cut their deficit to 22-11 with just under 10 minutes left in the first half but that would be all the closer the Ravens would get in the first half as Culver-Stockton led 55-37 at the half.

Culver-Stockton finished the half connecting on 54.5 percent from the floor while converting on 9 of 14 from beyond the arc.

In the second half, the Ravens warmed up to 58.1 percent from the floor while holding the Wildcats to 43.3 percent and just 3 of 7 from beyond the arc.

While outscoring Culver-Stockton 44-41 in the second half, the Ravens just couldn’t overcome their slow start as they suffered the loss.

Wallrapp was the only Raven in double figures with 17 points while Steven O’Brien and Harris Jr. finished with 8 points each.

The Ravens host No. 19 Evangel University at 4 p.m. Saturday inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium. A win by Benedictine would still give them the outright HAAC Championship while a loss would move the Ravens, Evangel and Culver-Stockton into a three-way share of the HAAC Championship.

— BC Sports Information —

Needing to close out the season on a winning streak, the Raven women’s basketball team took on Culver-Stockton College Thursday night in their final regular-season road game.

After trailing by two points at the half, Benedictine (19-10, 11-6 HAAC) used a 50-percent shooting effort in the second half to earn a 60-56 win over Culver-Stockton (4-21, 1-16 HAAC).

Benedictine started the game out strong, building a 13-2 advantage over Culver-Stockton by the 12 minute, fourty-second mark of the first half.

The Wildcats responded with a 23-4 run to erase their deficit and push ahead by as much as eight points before the Ravens pulled back within two points at the half, 26-24.

Despite the last-minute first-half run by the Ravens, they couldn’t carry their offensive momentum into the second half as the Wildcats pushed back ahead by 10 points just under six minutes into the second half.

Benedictine started to heat up once again offensive, mounting a 15-5 run to tie the game at 45 points with six minutes and 46 seconds remaining in the game.

After two more ties and eight lead changes over the next five minutes, the Ravens took the lead for good on a 3-pointer from Jackie Ziesel with just under two minutes remaining.

Erin Murphy scored a game-high 17 points in the win for the Ravens. She scored Benedictine’s first basket of the game 50 seconds into the game to move her career total to 1,000 points. Rosie Youngstrom added 14 points while Chayla Rutledge and Ziesel finished with 9 points each.

The Ravens wrap up the regular season on Saturday at 2 p.m. as they host Evangel University in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium.

— BC Sports Information —

Riding a three-game winning streak heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, the Raven men’s basketball team continued to climb back up the NAIA Div. I Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Tuesday afternoon when the Association released the eighth regular-season poll.

Benedictine (18-6) moved up to No. 11, taking over the HAAC’s top position in the poll after they were ranked No. 16 last week.

The Ravens received 175 points in the latest poll to move past HAAC No. 2 Culver-Stockton College, who received 150 points to drop from No. 10 last week to No. 12 this week.

Benedictine holds a one-game lead over the Wildcats and a two-game lead over Central Methodist University with four games remaining in HAAC play.

Central Methodist received 78 points to move into the Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 22. The Eagles were listed in the other’s receiving votes category last week.

Evangel University, who the Ravens also hold a two-game lead over the in the HAAC standings, fell from No. 17 in last weeks poll to the second team listed in the other’s receiving votes category. MNU, who knocked off Evangel last week before falling to Benedictine on Saturday, held on to the final spot in the other’s receiving votes category.

Three games separate the top five teams in the HAAC heading into the final four games of the regular season with Culver-Stockton, Central Methodist, Evangel and MNU chasing the Ravens.

As a team, Benedictine ranks second in NAIA Div. I in 3-point percentage (41.9), ninth in total rebound defense (31.1), 10th in field goal defense (40.5) and 11th in scoring defense per game (67.6).

Individually, forward Jallen Messersmith continues to hold ground among the top shot blockers at the NAIA Div. I level. He ranks fourth in blocks per game (2.4) and fifth in total blocks (51).

Guard Shawn Fleming Jr. continues to rank among the nations best 3-point shooters, ranking fourth in 3-point percentage (48.7).

Benedictine hosts Graceland University at 7:30 p.m. Thursday before hitting the road for back-to-back games. They travel to Marshall, Mo, on Sunday to take on Missouri Valley College at 4 p.m. and then remain on the road Feb. 27 to take on Culver-Stockton at 7:30 p.m.

The Ravens wrap up the 2013-14 regular season at home on Saturday, March 1 with a 4 p.m. game agianst Evangel in the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium. March 1 is Senior Day with the Ravens three seniors – Charlie Wallrapp, Steven O’Brien and Herb Khangura – being recognized for their contributions to the men’s basketball program between games with the women’s basketball seniors.

Thursday’s night match up with Graceland, who the Ravens beat 70-55 in Lamoni, Iowa, back on Jan. 16, will be live on BRSNtv. The live video link as well as the links for livestats and the KAIR 93.7 FM radio stream can be found on the scoreboard located at the top of the page at www.ravenathletics.com.

— BC Sports Information —

The Benedictine (Kan.) College football program announced the signing of 42 players to its initial 2014 recruiting class as part of National Signing Day.

“The Benedictine College coaching staff is proud to announce the 2014 freshman football class,” said Raven head coach Larry Wilcox. “These student-athletes have selected Benedictine for the opportunity to experience the quality academic environment that will be afforded them during their college career. They are also excited about the tradition of Raven football, and the many future successes that they will be a part of.

“Our staff welcomes the opportunity to be part of their continued growth and future success.”

The 42-member class is made up of student-athletes from 13 states, which includes a high of 14 from the state of Missouri.

The Benedictine freshman signee class of 2014 is as follows:

 

Name	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	Previous School
Bledsoe, Griffin	OL	6’3″	250	Independence, MO	Fort Osage
Bower, Brandon	DL	6’2″	220	Spring, TX	Northland Christian
Brown, Conor	TE	6’5″	220	Albuquerque, NM	Saint Pius X
Carney, Logan	LB	6’1″	210	Osceoloa, MO	Osceola
Cisneros, Tyson	OL	6’3″	270	Lincoln, NE	Lincoln Pius X
Clark, Nick	DB	5’10”	190	Santan Valley, AZ	Poston Butte
DeAlba, Nicholas	DL	6’2″	215	Boise, ID	Boise
Dean, Trevor	RB	5’11”	196	Osceola, MO	Osceola
Eddy, Brandon	RB	6’2″	195	Lecompton, KS	Perry-Lecompton
Ferrone, Declan	WR	5’10”	150	Oxnard, CA	Saint Bonaventure
Flournoy, Kourtlin	LB	5’6″	200	Houston, TX	Northland Christian
Fontano, Joey	WR	5’11”	185	Addison, IL	Nazareth Academy
German, Wyatt	LB	5’10”	210	West Point, UT	Syracuse
Gilme, Matthieu	DE	6’1″	250	Kansas City, MO	Park Hill
Green, Brandon	LB	6′	225	Ventura, CA	Saint Bonaventure
Holloway, Cole	RB	5’7″	160	Tonganoxie, KS	Tonganoxie
Ing, Riley	DB	5,8″	170	Santan Valley, AZ	Poston Butte
James, Will	OL	6’2″	275	Lake St. Louis, MO	Holt
Jansen, Matt	LB	6’0″	195	Affton, MO	St. John Vianney
Jiggetts, Kimani	DB	5’9″	170	Rio Rancho, NM	Rio Rancho
Johns, Logan	LB	6’2″	230	Queen Creek, AZ	Higley
Lewis, Dakota	DB	5’10”	170	Marceline, MO	Marceline
Lindsay, Broc	WR	6’4″	195	Bonner Springs, KS	Basehor Linwood
Maloney, Brian	LB	6’5″	210	Colonial Heights, VA	Colonial Heights
McBride, Isaiah	DB	5’11”	170	Jefferson City, MO	Jefferson City
McCoy, Andrew	OL	6’3″	250	O’Fallon, MO	O’Fallon Christian
Mederos, Christian	DL	6’2″	210	Chandler, AZ	Basha
Poarch, Kolbe	QB	6’3″	185	Gilbert, AZ	Mesquite
Ray, Jack	OL	6’3″	265	Frisco, TX	Lone Star
Scales, Derwyn	OL	5’11”	270	Round Rock, TX	Cedar Ridge
Shaneyfelt, John	QB	6’1″	165	Santa Paula, CA	Saint Bonaventure
Slade, Dylan	OL	6’4″	225	Anthem, AZ	Boulder Creek
Slimmer, Drew	WR	5’9″	170	Topeka, KS	Jefferson West
Stevens, Jacob	LB	6’2″	200	Highland Ranch, CO	Denver Mullen
Summers, Kyle	RB	5’10”	190	Washington, MO	Washington
Thrasher, Tyler	WR	5’11”	170	St. Joseph, MO	Bishop Leblond
Titus, Garrett	QB	6’2″	195	Lawson, MO	Lawson
Trent, Nathan	OL	6’2″	270	Buena Park, CA	Kennedy
Tucker, Cyle	FB	5’10”	235	River Forest, IL	Nazareth Academy
Turpin, Adam	FB	5’9″	220	Lawson, MO	Lawson
Wesselman, Ross	LS	6’0″	220	Van Meter, IA	Van Meter
Woods Jr., Virgil	OL	6’1″	270	Kansas City, MO	Staley

 

Under Coach Wilcox, the Ravens went 10-2 in 2013 winning their sixth Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) Championship and qualifying for the NAIA Football Championship Series for the second time in the last three seasons. They were ranked No. 9 in the final NAIA Postseason Top 25 Coaches’ Poll.

In addition to the final Top 10 ranking and HAAC Championship, Coach Wilcox was recognized as the AFCA-NAIA Region 3 Coach of the Year.

— BC Sports Information —

The Benedictine (Kan.) College men’s basketball team saw the second-highest jump this week when the NAIA released the weekly Div. I Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Tuesday afternoon.

Benedictine improved to 15-4 last week with wins over then-No. 11 ranked Culver-Stockton College at home on Thursday and followed that up with a win over then-No. 5 ranked Evangel University in Springfield, Mo, on Saturday in the NAIA Men’s Basketball Game of the Week. For their efforts, the Ravens jumped from No. 15 to No. 9 in the latest poll.

Culver-Stockton fell to No. 15 while Evangel fell to No. 10 as the Ravens took over sole possession of first place in the HAAC. MNU was listed in the other’s receiving votes category giving the HAAC four teams on the national rating list.

The move to No. 9 marks the highest ranking for the Ravens since they made the jump to NAIA Div. I for the 2008-09 season.

As a team, the Ravens continue to lead the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage at 43.8 percent. They also rank 12th in field goal percentage (49.1) and 3-pointers per game (8.3).

Individually, Shawn Fleming Jr. ranks No. 2 in NAIA Div. I in 3-point percentage at 52.3 percent as the majority of the conference begins the second half of HAAC play on Thursday.

Brett Fisher also ranks in the top 10 in the same category, ranked seventh (49.3) headed into this week.

Jallen Messersmith continues to hold steady in two major defensive categories. He is currently ranked fifth in both blocks per game (2.4) and total blocks (38).

Benedictine leads the HAAC in scoring defense, limiting their opponents to 69.2 ppg over 19 games. They are second in field goal defense at 41.5 percent while leading the HAAC in 3-point field goal percentage.

The Ravens open up the second half of HAAC play on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Peru State College inside the Ralph Nolan Gymnasium. On Dec. 5, Benedictine defeated Peru State 80-70 in Peru, Neb.

— BC Sports Information —

For the sixth time this season, the No. 15-ranked Benedictine (Kan.) College men’s basketball team stepped on the floor against a member of the NAIA Div. I Top 25 as they took on No. 5 Evangel (Mo.) University in the NAIA DIv. Men’s Basketball Game of the Week.

Benedictine (15-4, 8-1 HAAC), who was playing against their second NAIA Div. I Top 15 program in the past three days, went 6 for 6 from the free throw line over the final 30 seconds on Saturday to hold off a late run by No. 5 Evangel (16-4, 7-1 HAAC) 85-82 and move to 6-0 against NAIA Div. I ranked opponents this season.

The Ravens took on two ranked opponents during November, going 2-0 against then-ranked No. 21 Park University and also knocking off then-ranked No. 2 Oklahoma Baptist. They also ended 2013 with a home win over No. 1 Columbia (Mo.) College.

This past week, Benedictine earned a win over No. 11 Culver-Stockton 79-72 at home on Thursday before traveling to Springfield to earn the three-point win over the Crusaders.

Saturday, Benedictine led for much of the game against Evangel.

After leading by as much as 12 points in the first half and 10 points in the second half, Benedictine found themselves in a battle over the final five minutes of the game.

Evangel’s top scorer, Zack Kleine knocked in a 3-pointer with 5:04 left in the game to pull the game into its second tie at 68 points.

Kleine single-handedly pushed the Crusaders back into the lead for just the second time since their opening basket of the game but the lead was short lived.

Benedictine’s Jonathan Anaekwe and John Harris Jr. hit three straight free throws 90 seconds after Evangel took the lead to pull the game into its third tie at 70 points.

Evangel answered Harris Jr.’s second free throw to pull back in front with a field goal at the 3:20 mark only to have Harris Jr. answer on the other end for Benedictine to push the Ravens ahead 73-72 with 3:09 remaining.

Benedictine never gave back the lead as baskets from Charlie Wallrapp and Harris Jr. kept the Ravens up by three points setting up the final 30 seconds where the Ravens capitalized at the charity stripe.

The Ravens hit 17 of 21 free throws in the second half, finishing the game at 78.1 percent.

Benedictine held Evangel to just 26.1 percent from beyond the 3-point arc but the Crusaders were able to overcome their 3-point shooting effort from the charity stripe. Evangel went 20 of 25 at the line in the first half and 10 of 11 in the second half to finish at 83.3 percent.

Benedictine finished the game hitting 51.9 percent from the floor against the Crusader’s No. 12-ranked field goal percent defense.

Wallrapp scored 24 points to lead four Ravens in double figures while Kleine finished with a game-high 27 points for the Crusaders.

Harris Jr. added 17 points for Benedictine while Anaekwe added 14. Shawn Fleming Jr. scored 11 points off the Benedictine bench, which held a 21-9 advantage over Evangel’s.

The win in Springfield gives Benedictine their first win over Evangel on the road since Dec. 2, 2006 when they beat the Crusaders 76-67. It also gives the Ravens sole possession of first place in the HAAC by a half game over Evangel as the second half of conference plays begins this next week.

— BC Sports Information —

The 15th-ranked Benedictine men’s basketball team won its third consecutive game as they defeated No. 11 Culver-Stockton Thursday night in Atchison, 79-72.

The Ravens improve to 14-4 this season and they’re 7-1 in the HAAC.

Benedictine made 6-of-9 three point field goals in the first half and shot 51.6% overall to take a 44-35 lead at halftime.

The Ravens held off Culver-Stockton in the second half as they made 15-of-18 free throws.

Charlie Wallrapp led five Benedictine players in double figures as he had 16 points and eight rebounds.  John Harris Jr. added 15, Jallen Messersmith had 14 points, Jonathan Anaekwe scored 12 and Shawn Fleming had 11 points.

In the women’s game, Benedictine got back in the win column after dropping three of their last four.

The Ravens won at home against Culver-Stockton 84-70 to improve to 13-7 and 5-3 in the HAAC.

Five players scored in double figures for Benedictine as Chayla Rutledge scored 18 points.  Erin Murphy added 15, Rosie Youngstrom had 12 and Justice Payne and Jackie Ziesel scored 11 each.

Both Raven teams are back in action Saturday as they travel to Springfield for a doubleheader with Evangel.  The women’s game will tip at 2:00 p.m.

The Benedictine men’s basketball team remained the second-highest HAAC member ranked in the NAIA Div. I Top 25 Coaches’ Poll on Tuesday when the association released the second regular-season poll.

Benedictine (10-3) moved into a tie for No. 15 with Montana State-Northern following a 2-2 stretch since the first regular-season poll was released on Dec. 10.

Evangel University dropped to No. 6 from No. 5 while Culver-Stockton College dropped to No. 19 from No. 18.

Graceland University and MNU were each listed in the others receiving votes category.

In addition to the HAAC opponents in the Top 25, Benedictine has wins over current No. 3 Columbia (Mo.) College and Oklahoma Baptist, who was listed just ahead of MNU in the others receiving votes category.

As a team, Benedictine leads NAIA Div. I in 3-point field goal percentage, converting on 45.2 percent through 13 games. They also rank No. 12 in field goal percentage (49.6 percent) and 3-pointers made per game (8.4).

Individually, Shawn Fleming Jr. ranks fourth in NAIA Div. I in 3-point percentage at 53.1 percent.

Jallen Messersmith ranks fifth in blocks per game (2.3) and ninth in total blocks (23).

Brett Fisher is also ranked in the Top 10 in 3-point field goal percentage, ranked ninth while converting 51.0 percent.

The Ravens return to HAAC action on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. as they host Baker University. They return to the road on Saturday for a 4 p.m. showdown with MNU in Olathe.

— BC Sports Information —