HUNTINGTON, Ind. – The Marian men's basketball team suffered their second Crossroads League loss on the season, falling in a tough battle to RV Huntington on the road 81-74 on Saturday afternoon. The Knights fall to 11-2 overall and 3-2 in league play.
The two teams traded points back and forth the entire first half as neither team saw a lead greater than six and there being eight ties throughout the half.
Hayden Langkabel got things started for both sides, hitting the first jumper of the game 35 seconds in the game before Huntington responded right back with one of their own. The hosts found themselves ahead three after a layup by Landen Jordan, but it was Luke Gohmann answering for Marian with three-pointer to tie things up at 7-7. Huntington got another bucket in the paint before Brody Whitaker shifted the momentum to Marian as he finished an old fashion three-point play and knocked down a jumper to help his team take the 12-9 lead.
Once again, the two teams traded points the remainder of the half until the Knights saw their largest lead at 26-20 after an 8-0 run fueled by a Josh Bryan three-pointer. Lane Sparks had an answer for the Foresters, scoring the next 11 points for his team before Zach Goodline added a long ball to give Huntington the 34-29 advantage. Both teams battled it out in the last three minutes that saw Taeshon Cherry hit the jumper to put Marian ahead 36-34, but it was Goodline having the last word as he hit a three at the buzzer to send Huntington ahead 37-36 at halftime.
Christian Harvey and Langkabel got Marian's scoring started in the second half as the duo combined for eight of the first ten points, but baskets from four different Foresters gave the hosts the 48-46 lead. With 11:10 left to play, Whitaker took over for the next couple minutes as he canned a triple before completing two and-one plays to put Marian in front by two at 57-55. However, Goodline came back down the floor, knocking down the jumper and a three-pointer moments later to put his squad ahead three. The Knights answered with a jumper from Cherry to take the one-point lead, but it was the Huntington offense responding with a huge 10-0 run to take the largest lead of the game at 70-59 with 3:08 left to go.
After the strong run from the Foresters, Marian struggled to fight their way back in the closing minutes as the closest they were able to get was within five. Even with the strong push towards the end, Huntington was able to hold off Marian and pick up the 81-74 win.
Whitaker poured in a career-high 23 points while also corralling seven rebounds. Bryan added 12 points and four rebounds, while Cherry had 11 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks. Langkabel tied a team-high eight rebounds and scored nine points.
Marian will be back in action on December 28 to host East-West at 6 PM.
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