Box Score NO. MANCHESTER, Ind. — The Earlham College men's basketball team dropped a 62-48 decision Saturday afternoon at Manchester College.

Ryan Taylor (Martinsville, IN, Martinsville) led the Quakers with 17 points and six rebounds in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference contest.

Eric Messer (Indianapolis, IN, International) tossed in seven points, while Justin Barger (Ellettsville, IN, Edgewood), Colton Bragg (Richmond, IN, Richmond), Marty Broderick (Mooresville, IN, Mooresville) and Marcus Bledsoe (Indianapolis, IN, Ritter) added five points each. Messer and Barger finished with five rebounds apiece.

The Spartans (4-9, 2-4) grabbed an early lead before the Quakers quickly responded to tie the game at 6-6 when Taylor drilled a 3-pointer at 15:55.

Taylor then gave the Quakers a 9-7 advantage when hit nailed his third 3-pointer in a row with 15:17 remaining in the opening period.

Manchester scored the next 10 points to build a 17-9 with 11:25 left to play in the first half. The Spartans eventually led 31-17 before the Quakers rallied to close the gap to 33-25 by intermission.

In the second half, the Spartans scored the first eight points of the frame to lead 41-25 at 17:07.

Earlham answered and cut the deficit to six points twice in the second period. Messer hit a 3-pointer at 12:00 to make it 42-36.

Moments later, Bledsoe scored off an offensive rebound to make it 44-38 with 10:44 remaining in the contest.
 
As the teams traded scoring possessions, Taylor hit a 3-pointer, which made it 50-43 at the 5:03 mark.

From that point, Manchester scored seven straight as the Spartans were able to hold off the Quakers the rest of the way.

The Quakers (0-13, 0-6) stay on the road for their next game as they travel to Bluffton University on Wednesday. The HCAC contest gets underway at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score