NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – The Manchester University men's basketball team earned a hard-fought 84-81 victory over the visiting Earlham Quakers on Friday night in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.

After leading by three, 40-37, at halftime, the host Spartans quickly fell behind by double digits early in the second period. The visiting Quakers utilized a 24-7 run over nearly six minutes of game clock to build their largest lead of the night of 61-47. Jamel Barnes scored 13 of his game-high 26 points during the surge for Earlham.

Manchester Head Coach Nate Conley kept preaching to his team, "One possession at a time, one possession at a time."

The Spartans did just that as the Black & Gold slowly chipped into the Earlham advantage. A three-point play by senior Matt Westman (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan) at the 11:27 mark ignited a 20-2 run that spanned over five minutes of game clock.

Freshman Brandon Christlieb (Ashley, Ind./Prairie Heights) scored seven of his 16 points during the run, highlighted by a dunk in transition. Seniors CJ Hampton (Hammond, Ind./Griffith) and Cortiz Buckner (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jefferson) chipped in key baskets during MU's critical run. A layup by Buckner at the 6:30 mark of the second half put the Spartans ahead 67-65.

Earlham answered back with an 8-0 push to regain a late lead over Manchester. Manchester rallied right back with a pair of free throws from CJ Hampton. After Earlham split a pair of free throws, Brandon Christlieb converted an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 74.

After getting a stop on its next possession, the Spartan youngster Christlieb put MU ahead for good with a driving layup through traffic.

Manchester got clutch foul shooting from its senior trio of Cortiz Buckner, CJ Hampton, and Matt Westman in the game's final minutes. The trio went a combined 8-10 to help Manchester win its second game of the season.

Hampton led the Black & Gold with 23 points and 10 rebounds, good enough for his seventh career double-double. Both Cortiz Buckner and Brandon Christlieb scored 16 points. Buckner added seven assists. Freshman Jackson Jannsen (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) scored 13 points. Matt Westman finished with 11 points.

For the game, the Black & Gold shot 28-58 (48.3%) from the field. MU converted 23 of 28 foul shot attempts, good for 82.1%.

Earlham finished 25-58 (43.1%) from the field and went 26-28 at the charity stripe.

The Spartans converted 19 Quaker turnovers into 21 points. EC held a 41-27 advantage on the glass.

Manchester (2-0) will travel to Earlham (0-1) tomorrow for a 2 p.m. contest.