KANSAS CITY, Mo. – While the official start to the Ryan Moody era of Raven men's basketball doesn't start until Friday's trip to the Bosch Financial Shootout hosted by Mount Mercy, it did take a step in the right direction on Tuesday night.

Benedictine traveled to the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City for an exhibition contest against the Kangaroos and earned a 74-67 win over the NCAA Div. I member.

Since the game was an exhibition, the win doesn't count on the Ravens overall win-loss record this season but certainly got the season started with a bang.

“We are excited to start our season with a win in our first exhibition game,” Raven head coach Ryan Moody said, “An overtime victory this early in the season helps us down the road when we see this situation again.“
The Ravens used a 50-percent shooting effort in the first half to hold a 33-32 lead over the Roos at the half.

The lead changed hands five times in the first half with Benedictine building as much as a nine-point lead before settling for the one-point advantage at the break.

Benedictine continued their steady shooting effort in the second half, upping their field goal percentage to 52.4 percent.

The second half went back and fourth with neither team able to pull away from the other until regulation ended with the game tied at 63.

In the overtime, Benedictine limited UMKC to just one field goal while knocking in 4 of 7 from the floor and pulled away for the win.

Benedictine finished the game hitting 51.8 from the floor, 47.4 from beyond the 3-point arc and 50 percent from the charity stripe.

Four Ravens finished in double figures in scoring, led by the 19 points of forward Charlie Wallrapp (Soph., Omaha).

Forward Alex Miller (Sr., Scottsdale, Ariz.) added 16 while guard Quaran Johnson (Sr., Philadelphia) and forward Tony Anderson (Sr., Littleton, Colo.) scored 14 and 10 points respectively.

Wallrapp also finished with five blocks and five rebounds while Anderson was the Ravens leading rebounder with seven – all defensive.

"Our defense played physical and together and we were unselfish on offense, things we work on everyday, I was proud of our effort," Moody said. “Hopefully we can build on this as we move forward.”
The Ravens countable contests begin on Friday with a trip to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Benedictine plays host Mount Mercy on Friday at 8 p.m. and then wraps up the Shootout with a 2 p.m. game Saturday against Iowa Wesleyan.