Mount Vernon, Ohio - After staving off multiple Mount Vernon threats in the second half, the Marian men's basketball team won a tightly-contested 87-77 contest Saturday afternoon to close the first half of Crossroads League play. Marian's win gives them a 15-4 overall record on the season, as they improve to 5-4 in league play.
The Knights came out firing on all cylinders in the opening three minutes, with a Luke Gohmann three point make and a quick seven points from Taeshon Cherry helping build a 10-5 lead. After Cherry's three that provided the five point edge, the senior was hit with a technical foul. The technical allowed Mount Vernon to gain momentum, as they embarked on a 6-0 run while holding Marian scoreless for nearly three minutes.
Brody Whitaker halted the run with two quick three-pointers, as the sophomore drained back to back shots off Christian Harvey assists. Harvey got in the scorebook with a layup and a Hayden Langkabel dunk quickly shot the lead to nine, but the Cougars stayed in the hip-pocket answering with a three. The Knights were able to keep the Cougars at arm's length holding a two or three possession lead for four minutes after the TC Molk trifecta, however Mount Vernon was able to find a rhythm after two Kade Ruegsegger makes. The lead changed hands as Eric McLaughlin and Langkabel exchanged deep shots, with the Marian make sparking a run. Cherry scored four straight points at the foul line to take a 37-31 lead, with another five points on the next two trips pushing the advantage to nine. Mount Vernon would cut the lead to two points before the end of the half, but a Gavin Foe tip in at the buzzer allowed the Knights to hold a 46-42 lead at halftime.
Marian came out of the break just like they did at the start of the game, scoring on each of their first two possessions with a three from Gohmann and layup from Whitaker. The run to start the half would extend to seven points as the lead pushed to 11 points, but a foul on a three-point shot allowed the Cougars to capture momentum. A 7-0 run started by the three Ruegsegger free throws made it a 54-49 game after five minutes of play in the half, forcing a timeout from the Marian bench.
Cherry and Harvey responded after the timeout and allowed Marian to keep their grip on the lead, helping keep a two possession advantage. Gohmann's third three of the game gave the Knights a 63-56 lead with 10:06 to play, and sparked a 8-0 run to surge the lead to double figures for the second time in the half. A free throw for Cherry to complete a three-point play gave Marian a 68-56 lead, and the Knights were able to keep the Cougars at bay as they answered each make with one of their own.
With 3:41 to play MVNU was given fresh life as Cherry was ejected from the game after picking up his second technical, and the Cougars used the momentum to get within eight points as the clock rolled under two minutes. Marian used a timeout to compose the lineup, and after getting a pair of stops were able to extend the lead at the foul line with Langkabel and Harvey knocking down the freebies. A dunk from Foe put the finishing touches on the game with the flush pushing the lead to 14 in the final minute, helping cap the 10th straight win over Mount Vernon with an 87-77 victory.
The Knights overcame 11 turnovers which included a stretch of four straight in the first half, and shot 51.8 percent from the floor in the win. Marian was a perfect 19-19 at the free throw line in the game, and were led on offense by Cherry who scored a career-high 30 points. Cherry also had a game-high nine rebounds in his 31 minutes of work. Langkabel scored 15, Whitaker finished with 13, and Gohmann had 11 in the win for Marian. Harvey scored seven off the bench and had a game-high six assists, with Foe scoring six off the bench.
Marian will start the second half of the Crossroads League season on the road, traveling to St. Francis (Ind.) on Wednesday night where they look to avenge their loss from earlier this week. Tip in Fort Wayne is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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