RICHMOND, Ind. – Manchester University and Earlham College met once more on the hardwood on Saturday afternoon. Playing one another for the second time in less than 24 hours, the host Quakers were able to slow the Black & Gold offense en route to a 71-53 victory.

The Spartans topped Earlham 84-81 in Stauffer-Wolfe Arena last night.

A new day meant a clean slate for both squads and Earlham took control of Saturday's contest early. EC jumped out to an 8-4 lead behind five quick points from Xavier Barbell. Earlham never trailed in Saturday's contest.

A three-pointer at the 9:23 mark of the opening period by Jamel Barnes saw Earlham build an 11-point advantage of 26-15. The Quakers limited the Spartans on offense, allowing just three Spartans to score while forcing the Black & Gold into committing eight turnovers in the first half.

Jackson Jannsen (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) scored 10 points, CJ Hampton (Hammond, Ind./Griffith) scored 9 points, while Cortiz Buckner (Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jefferson) scored the remaining eight points in the opening half. The trio combined to shoot 9-19 in the opening 20 minutes. All other Spartans were held to a combined 0-7 shooting.

Earlham led 38-27 at the intermission.

The Spartans did manage to trim their double-digit deficit to just two points near the midpoint of the second half.

Cortiz Buckner found Jackson Jannsen in transition for an open three that pulled Manchester to within a basket at 44-42. Following an ensuing timeout, Earlham responded with a 27-12 run over the final 12 minutes of regulation to seal the game.

CJ Hampton led Manchester with 17 points and nine boards on Saturday. Both Jackson Jannsen and Cortiz Buckner finished with 16 points. Mitch Mendenhall (New Haven, Ind./Woodlan) was the only other Spartan to score on Saturday afternoon. Mendenhall finished with four points and seven rebounds off the bench.

As a team, the Spartans were held to 36.7% shooting (18-49) for the game. Earlham shot 46.6% (27-58) for the game, while also holding a 38-28 advantage on the glass.  

Xavier Barbell led three Quakers in double figures with a game-high 22 points. Jamel Barnes posted a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Josh Ozanne scored 13 points.

Manchester dropped to 2-1 on the year after Saturday's split with Earlham. EC improved to 1-1. Manchester is scheduled to host rival Anderson University in Stauffer-Wolfe at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 22.