The Culver-Stockton men's basketball team held off a furious rally by Park University to earn a 74-69 Heart of America Athletic Conference victory at Charles Field House Monday night.

The Wildcats led 67-52 after a basket by Connor Davis with 8:25 left in the game. That would be the last Wildcat field goal and the Pirates would go on a 16-0 run over the next five minutes, 29 seconds to take a 68-67 lead with 2:56 to play.

Park would miss one shot and turn the ball over twice while Robert Fry II would drain four free throws over the next 1:13 to lift the Wildcats to a 71-68 advantage.

The Pirates would split a pair of free throws with pull within 71-69 birth 1:11 to play, but Fry would knock down two more free throws and CaRondis Harris-Anderson would add a third for throw to account for the final margin while the Wildcat defense made a couple of stops on defensive end .

Fry came off the bench to net a game-high 21 points, including going 8-for-9 from the foul line. Davis added 15 points off the bench, while Nicolas Fowler scored 11 markers.

Fowler and Harris-Anderson each grabbed seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats on the glass. Tai Walters-Whitaker dished out five assists an added four steals.

The victory improves the Wildcats to 9-11 overall and 7-9 in the Heart while Park drops to 8-13 overall and 6-11 in the conference. The Wildcats are scheduled to go to Clarke University in Dubuque, Iowa, on Wednesday, Jan 31. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES:

• After falling for the first time when leading at the half on Saturday against Peru State, the Wildcats improved to 8-1 this season when leading after 40 minutes. C-SC led 37-33 at the intermission Monday night.
• Fry's 21-point performance was the 15th time in his career he had eclipsed the 20-point plateau. 
• Fowler's 11 points was a season-best for the junior college transfer who became eligible at the beginning of this month.
• The Wildcats registered six blocks shots in Monday's game, a season-high.
• C-SC and Park combine to shoot 62.3 percent (38-61) from the free throw line in the game.
• The Wildcats limited Park to just 13 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc, limiting the Pirates to three 3-points field goals on 23 attempts.