Box Score RICHMOND, Ind. — Midway through the second half on Saturday, the Earlham College men's basketball team was in control of its destiny against the College of Mount St. Joseph on Schuckman Court in the Athletics and Wellness Center.

By the end of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference affair, the Quakers had a 55-37 victory over the Lions.

"I'm so proud of our guys," Earlham Head Coach Marcus Gill said. "They have finally bought into the way we need to play."

"We've finally found our identity," Gill added. "We executed our game plan very well."

Dustin Rusk (Frankfort, IN, Clinton Prairie) led the Quakers with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Justin Barger (Ellettsville, IN, Edgewood) had the second double-double of his career with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Barger had 13 points and 10 rebounds against Manchester College on Nov. 25, 2008.

Kyle Calder (Crawfordsville, IN, North Montgomery) added 11 points and game-high six assists to go with four rebounds. Colton Bragg (Richmond, IN, Richmond) contributed seven points and Ryan Taylor (Martinsville, IN, Martinsville) finished with six points and four assists.

The Quakers scored the first basket of the game, but the Lions put the next eight on the scoreboard to lead 8-3 at the 15:13 mark of the opening period.

It didn't take long for the Quakers to respond as they scored eight straight to lead 11-8 after Marcus Bledsoe scored at 11:34.

From that point, the Quakers were able to increase their margin by intermission to 28-19.

In the second half, the Lions were able to close the gap to eight points three times early in the frame with the last coming at the 12:58 mark when it was 34-26.

With six points in the row, the Quakers went up 40-26 after Bragg scored at 10:39.

At the 10:02 mark of the second period, Mount St. Joseph coach Toby Carrigan removed the five players from the floor, which included four starters.

Over the next four minutes the Quakers exploded to build a 55-30 advantage with 6:21 left in the contest.

Despite not scoring the rest of the way, Earlham only allowed the Lions to score seven points as the Quakers posted their largest victory margin since the 2006-07 season. Earlham won 80-60 at Denison University on Jan. 24, 2007.

Earlham (2-21, 2-14) return to action on Wednesday at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The HCAC game begins at 7:30 p.m.

Box Score