INDIANAPOLIS - An early run was all the Knights needed on Tuesday night, as the defense and sharp shooting Marian men's basketball team rolled to a comfortable 126-42 victory in the PE Center, improving to 3-0 on the season.
Early steals from the Marian defense helped the Knights open their one-sided victory on a 13-0 run, with Hayden Langkabel burying a second-chance three on the Knights first possession of the game. The lead continued to swell as Christian Harvey made a pair of steals and layups, forcing a Cardinal Stritch timeout three minutes into play. Taeshon Cherry puncuated the run with a dunk coming out of the timeout, with the points continuing to flow as the Wolves had no answer for Marian.
Following the media timeout, Langkabel, Cherry, and Josh Bryan extended the lead to 20, with the bench rotating in and pushing the margin to 31 points before the 10 minute mark. Maximus Gizzi and Jackson Ames were part of the charge off the bench, and Luke Heady chipped in for a pair of three point shots as the score soared to 43-4 with 8:18 remaining. Cherry and Langkabel continued to knock down shots for Marian as Cardinal Stritch could do nothing to slow down their opponents, as the Knights ended the first half on a 29-11 run, leading 72-18 at the break.
Marian shot 70.7 percent from the floor in the first half, and made eight three-pointers.
The Knights continued to shoot lights out in the second half, as they out-scored Cardinal Stritch 54-24. Luke Gohmann and Harvey helped build the lead to 60 points, with Brody Whitaker coming off the bench to add to the lead throughout the half. A pair of foul shots from Gizzi put Marian over the century mark with 10:44 to play in the game, with Gavin Foe and Luke Heady each scoring two points in a closing 8-0 run. The Knights held the Wolves scoreless for the final 3:31 of the contest, forcing five missed shots from the field as they polished off their 126-42 win.
Hayden Langkabel led the Knights in scoring in the blowout, scoring 21 points while going 9-11 from the field and 3-5 from deep. Taeshon Cherry put up a monstrous double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Harvey had 19 points and five assists. Gohmann would finish with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Ames had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the bench. Gizzi finished with 10 points, and Whitaker scored nine.
Marian notched 26 assists in the contest, marking their third game of the season to eclipse 20 helpers. As a team the Knights had 14 steals with Cherry's six leading the way. Marian grabbed 62 rebounds holding a differential of plus-48, and had 18 boards off the offensive glass.
Marian's 84-point victory is their second-largest in program history, trailing a 94-point victory on November 11, 1994, against IU-East.
Marian will face their toughest task on paper this weekend, as they travel to Portsmouth, Ohio, to play in the Mid-South/Crossroads League Crossover. The weekend hosted by Shawnee State opens on Friday, with Marian taking on No. 20 Cumberland University.
MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more
