The Benedictine University men's basketball team secured their first win of the season in the consolation game at the Illinois College Bill Merris Invitational.

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 74, Principia 68

THE DETAILS
- Benedictine fell behind 7-0 to open the game
- The team trailed in the first half all the way until a layup from Brandon McCoy evened the game at 30-30 with 6:39 left in the half
- Ryan Tucker hit a three to give Benedictine their first lead at 33-32, beginning a back-and-forth swing
- Benedictine closed the half with a 7-0 run to lead at the break by a 42-37 count
- Principia, out of the SLIAC, battled back and led by six six minutes into the second
- The game remained tight until Noah Mason opened a n 8-0 run in the final four minutes of play and Benedictine held on for the victory

STAT LEADERS
- Benedictine shot 56.6 percent in the first half and finished the game at 48.4 percent
- Benedictine held a 36-31 advantage on the glass and tallied 42 points in the paint
- The game featured eight ties and seven lead changes
- Mason finished with 21 points and seven rebounds
- McCoy came off the bench to log 15 as the only other player to hit double digits

UP NEXT
Benedictine (1-1) will play an exhibition at NCAA Division I foe Northern Illinois on Thursday night before opening the home and conference schedule next Saturday night against Aurora Read Full Article