Anderson Box Score

ANDERSON, Ind. - The Elmhurst College men's basketball team, ranked seventh in the latest D3hoops.com poll, fell to 9-2 overall after falling at Anderson University 83-77.

The Bluejays trailed 33-29 at the break and came back to tie the score at 56-56 with 10:33 to play in the contest. The Bluejays grabbed their first lead on a Chris Childs jumper and built a 66-61 lead with 7:07 to play.

Anderson (9-3) slowly chipped away at the Elmhurst lead, tying the score at 72-all with 3:32 to play. Mike Russell's jumped with 2:18 remaining, put Anderson up by two. The Bluejays could not capitalize on their next three possessions, as Anderson built a 79-72 lead with 43 seconds remaining.

The Bluejays shot 47.4 percent (21-of-65) from the floor but only 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from downtown. The Bluejays hit 8-of-11 free throw attempts (72.7 percent). Anderson finished the contest shooting 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the floor, including 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from beyond the arc. Anderson went the the free throw line 31 times, converting 24 attempts (77.4 percent).

Brent Ruch paced Elmhurst in the loss, scoring 16 points and totaling eight rebounds. Ryan Burks and Robert Strzemp finished with 15 points apiece while Childs and Zack Boyd each totaled nine points in the loss.

Russell led Anderson with a game-high 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting. Andrew Jones added 18 points while Ryne Foster came off the bench to score 11.

Elmhurst opens CCIW play on Wednesday, January 7, by playing at Augustana College.