Kingsport, Tenn. – After trailing by as much as 13, the Marian men's basketball team picked up the 70-66 victory over Ave Maria Saturday afternoon in their first game of the NAIA the Show Tournament. With the victory, the Knights move to 8-0 on the season.
Ave Maria ripped off the game's first seven points, while Marian struggled to get their offense going in the first half. The Knights saw their lowest number of points produced in the first half this season, as the team shot only 14.3% from the floor and were 0-15 from three, which is unlike the normal hot shooting Knights.
The Knights ended the quick start by the Gyrenes with six straight points coming from Brody Whitaker, Christian Harvey, and Luke Gohmann to get within one at 7-6 with 14:31 left to play in the first half. Neither team could score through the next five minutes until Ave Maria would be sent to the free throw line and knock down both. Taeshon Cherry ended the scoring drought for Marian as he canned a pair of free throws to make the score 9-8.
Once again, it was the Gyrenes going an 8-0 run before Jackson Ames put a stop to the run by hitting two free throws. Marian was able to score six points in the remainder of the first half to gain some momentum off a three-point play from Ames, but it was Ave Maria going into the break with the eleven-point lead at halftime, 27-16.
Marian overcame their first half shooting struggles to start the second off by cutting the lead back to single-digits after Harvey put in two free throws. The second half was a battle as both teams traded points through the first seven minutes of action until a layup by Cherry fueled a 10-0 which included two Luke Heady threes and put the Knights back within one. The Gyrenes would hit a free throw to stop the spurt, but Maximus Gizzi fired right back with a jumper to even the score at 45-45, giving Marian their first tie of the game since the start of the game.
After going back and forth for the next few possessions, Ave Maria gained the six-point lead with five minutes left to play before Josh Bryan canned back-to-back threes to give Marian their first lead of the game at 60-57. The Gyrenes put together a few buckets, but the Knights' defense was able to stay strong and put their free throws in to close out the game victorious 70-66.
Marian was led by Cherry's 19 points and four rebounds, while Whitaker added 10 points and five rebounds. Bryan had nine points, Heady added eight, and Harvey scored eight to go along with six rebounds.
The Knights will be back tomorrow at 4:15 PM to take on Bluefield College.
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