The AU women’s and men’s basketball teams played their final games of the regular season Wednesday night against Bluffton University. The women’s team hosted Bluffton in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium, while the men traveled to the Sommer Center to face the Beavers.
The women posted a convincing 83-54 win to finish at 16-9 (12-6 in the HCAC). With this final win, the Ravens locked up the third overall seed heading into the HCAC tournament next week.
Likewise, the men took down the Beavers 93-74 in Ohio, finishing at 16-9 (14-4 in the HCAC) and clinching a share of the HCAC regular season title alongside Transylvania University.
WOMENS
Bella Larrison led the Ravens with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 assist. Lauren Smith chipped in 13 points, Sydney Sierota contributed 12 and Ashley Pate had 10 off the bench. Victoria Detraz led the team in rebounds with 10, Sierota led in assists with 4 and Pate and Izzy Davis each had 2 steals. Overall, the women shot 44.3% from the field, 35.7% from three and converted 82.6% on free throws.
This final win earned the Ravens the overall #3 seed for the HCAC tournament, and they will host #6 Rose-Hulman in the first round on Saturday, February 21 at 1:00 p.m. In the three other semifinal games, #8 Hanover plays at #1 Transylvania at 1:00 p.m., #7 Bluffton plays at #2 Franklin at 2:00 p.m., and #5 Mount St. Joseph plays at #4 Berea at 2:00 p.m. The winners of each of these games will advance to the semifinals.
MENS
The men’s team was led by Bryce Williams, who put up 23 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Other notable point contributors were Kenney Troutman with 21, Nolan Swan with 16 and DeMonte Ferguson with 12. Elijah Mattingly had himself a night, tying his own conference record for rebounds in a single game with 21. He also dished out 11 assists for a double-double on the night as well as leading the Ravens in blocks with 2. Mattingly earned the HCAC athlete of the week award for his performance. Overall, the men shot 46.5% from the field and 42.3% from three.
With this win, the men locked up a share of the HCAC regular season title and clinched the overall #2 seed for the tournament. The Ravens will host #7 Bluffton in the first round Saturday, February 21 at 3:00 p.m. In the other first round games, #8 Berea will play at #1 Transylvania at 1:00 p.m., #3 Rose-Hulman will host #6 Hanover at 2:00 p.m., and #5 Franklin will play at #4 Mount St. Joseph at 2:00 p.m. The winners of each of these games will advance to the semifinals.
SEMIFINAL & CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
Following the first round, the semifinal games for both the women’s and men’s will be played at the highest remaining seed’s court on Friday, February 27 (times TBD), and the championship game will be played the following day at 3:00 p.m. for the women and 5:00 p.m. for the men, with the winners advancing to the NCAA DIII national tournament.
Admission to each of the games is $10 for general admission, while children 11 and under, HCAC students, faculty and staff with ID’s can attend for free.