NORTH MANCHESTER – Manchester University head coach Gerad Good had been looking for a key intangible to be a part of the Spartans’ 2015-16 season stretch drive. He got that, and more, Wednesda in a wild and woolly 90-86 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Anderson University at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena. Playing in front of a large and loud home crowd cheering the Spartans at every turn, the home team answered a second half rally by the visiting Ravens to earn a split in the season series with their conference rivals. “Our intensity is coming back, and it’s been needed,” Good said. “We’d had some slippage in that area, but that tends to happen this time of year. Tonight, though, it was good to see several guys step up in a positive way. “This victory is just another step for us towards getting more confidence,” he added. “We’ll need that, too, as there are more big games ahead.” Several individual stars shone brightly for the Spartans (11-11 overall, 8-7 HCAC). Senior guard Brady Dolezal was among them, scoring 23 points on 10-of-15 field goal shooting to go with seven rebounds, a blocked shot, two assists and a steal in 31 minutes of action off the bench. Freshman guard Adrian Johnson was just as strong, tallying 21 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds, and his underclassman teammate, sophomore forward/center Enis Becirevic chipped in 14 points, seven rebounds and a blocked shot, too. Even with those three outputs, freshman forward/center Evan Romie showed some clutch wares as well. Romie, who finished with 10 points, four rebounds and an assist, came up big in the final 5:12. The freshman hit a fade away jump shot with the shot clock running down to open the advantage to 88-83 and then, after AU’s Brett Anderson gunned in one of his four treys to close the margin to two with 1:32 remaining, Romie hit another jumper on the right baseline with only 21 seconds remaining to give the home side an insurmountable two-possession lead. Dolezal was also involved heavily down the stretch, as he scored four points in the same span and grabbed a huge defensive rebound after a Ravens’ three-point miss with only 49 seconds left to set up MU’s final possession. The victory kept the Spartans right on the edge of the league’s top six, trailing a three-way tie for fourth between Transylvania University, Hanover and Andersopn by only a game with three to play. Manchester University resumes its final regular season homestand Saturday as Rose-Hulman comes to town for a 5 p.m. Senior Day tipoff with the three-member Class of 2016 being honored postgame. NOTES: Dolezal, who’s ended at 20-points-or-more in four of his last five appearances, finds himself on the brink of school history going into the weekend. He’s only four points shy of becoming the 28th member of the program’s 1,000-point club and the first to do so since Jamaal Wade did so from 2004-08 … Johnson has a modest three-game run of double-figure scoring. He’s also dished out five-or-more assists six times in his last eight outings and picked off three steals-or-more three times in the same span … Becirevic continued strong field goal shooting in the win, registering his 18th contest of 50-percent-or-higher accuracy. His rebounding season average is on the rise, too, due to averaging six boards a game that’s helped up his season mark three-tenths (3.5-3.8) … Romie registered his first collegiate double-digit scoring total … MU’s win snapped a five-game Anderson University win streak in the series. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Spartans Topped At AU ANDERSON – Senior guard Katie Arterburn and junior forward Jenifer Lee each finished in double-figure scoring to lead Manchester University Wednesday night. The Spartans got out to a fast start inside Anderson University’s O.C. Lewis Gymnasium, tallying six of the game’s first eight points and holding as large as a five-point lead in the early going. However, the home-standing Ravens used a 6-0 roll over the final 4:02 of the first half to propel them to a 25-20 edge at the break and expanded the advantage to as much as 10 in the second 20 minutes. MU managed a strong rally, trimming the deficit to as little as five (44-39) with 2:25 left, but AU staved off the comeback, scoring six of the final eight points for a 50-41 decision. Arterburn finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists for the Lady Spartans (6-16 overall, 4-11 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference). Lee continued an impressive recent roll with 10 points off the bench due to a four-of-six shooting night, while freshman guard Faith-Alexis Graham ended with eight and dished out two assists to share the team lead with Arterburn and fellow senior guard Justine Kruger, and sophomore forward Tori Christlieb contributed six points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots. The Spartans return to Stauffer-Wolfe Arena Saturday, opening a two-game home stand against conference co-leader Rose-Hulman. Manchester University’s three-person Class of 2016 will be honored prior to tip-off at 3 p.m. NOTES: Christlieb’s three blocked shots marked three consecutive and four times in the last five contests she’s swatted away the same number of opponent opportunities. Her boards per game average is also climbing in the span, as she’s registered 40 for an average pf eight an outing which has pushed her season average up six-tenths (5.5-6.1) … Lee’s fourth double-digit points effort in the last seven games has helped season average rise over a point (5.4-6.5) in the skein … Despite the loss that ended a 10-game win streak in the series, the Spartans still remain only a game out of sixth and two out of fifth on the conference standings with three to play.
