Portsmouth, Ohio - The Marian men's basketball team only led for 41 seconds in the first half Friday night, but never trailed in the second half as a halftime buzzer-beater from Christian Harvey kept the Knights in front in a 72-53 win over No. 20 Cumberland Unviersity. Marian's win over the ranked Phoenix improves their record to 4-0.
The Knights played from behind for nearly the entire first half Friday as they tipped the Mid-South/Crossroads League Challenge, with Cumberland building an early 7-3 lead. Hayden Langkabel was the lone constant for Marian in the opening seven minutes, as he paced the offense with six early points. Trailing 11-9 at the 12 minute mark, Luke Heady drained his first attempt from long range to take a lead, starting a back and forth scoring trend between the Knights and Phoenix.
A jumper from Brody Whitaker would level the score at 21-21 at the 7:29 mark, but after a timeout Marian went cold, as Cumberland inched ahead with a 6-0 run. Josh Bryan and Christian Harvey would bring the Knights closer as the half wore to its close, as the 27-21 deficit was trimmed to two points. Jackson Ames made it a one-possession game entering the final minute, and after calling a timeout with 23 seconds left, Harvey was left open by the Cumberland defense, as the senior drained a three to beat the buzzer and go into the locker room on top 35-34.
The made three from Harvey more than made up for the Knights leading for just 41 seconds in the first half, as the bucket gave Marian momentum going into the second half. The Knights started the second half on an 11-2 run to grab a double-digit lead within three minutes, and kept their edge over the Phoenix by five or more. Maximus Gizzi converted a three point play to spark Marian, and a Luke Gohmann layup near the 10 minute mark drove the lead to 11.
Cumberland would keep within four possessions as the contested each of Marian's shots, but would start to run out of steam as a three-point play from Harvey gave Marian a 64-53 lead with 4:32 remaining. Holding the Phoenix scoreless for the next two minutes of play, Bryan would put the game to rest as he drained two three-pointers in a 45 second window to seal the victory, pushing the lead to 17 to seal any comeback attempt.
In the 19-point victory Marian shot 42.9 percent from the field, and knocked down eight three's. Harvey led all players with 17 points while also grabbing seven boards and three steals, and Langkabel scored 15. Bryan ended with 12 points, and Cherry had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds coming off the bench.
Marian will aim to end the weekend with a 3-0 weekly record, as they take on the 2021 NAIA National Champion in Shawnee State on Saturday afternoon.
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