Fort Wayne, Ind. - Playing with an eight-man rotation, the short-handed Marian men's basketball team avenged their loss from seven days ago to St. Francis by handing the Cougars an 80-69 loss in Fort Wayne on Wednesday night. Marian's second consecutive win improves their record to 16-4 overall, while jumping to 6-4 in league play.
St. Francis controlled the tempo from the opening tip, scoring on their second possession off a Marian turnover to help begin the game on a 5-0 run. The Knights slowly worked their way into play with Christian Harvey scoring four straight to get the first points of the contest, with Hayden Langkabel granting the first lead five minutes into play. The game swayed back and forth following the senior's make, with each team swapping three pointers over the ensuing minutes.
A Brayton Bailey trey gave the Cougars a 13-11 edge with under 12 minutes to play, and held St. Francis in front for a five minute stretch as their lead grew to seven thanks to three-pointers made by Antwaan Cushingberry and Dan McKeeman. Brody Whitaker halted the Cougar run with a layup, with Langkabel following with a three to capture the momentum. Trailing by two, Whitaker and Harvey knocked down shots to extend the run to 10 points. The sprint gave Marian a 29-26 lead, and helped Marian stay in control as they would trail for just 49 seconds in the final 3:48 of the half.
A Whitaker three gave Marian a 34-32 lead going into the intermission, and coming out of the locker room the sophomore continued to catch five, scoring the first five points of the half for Marian. Whitaker continued to score at will, and got help from Luke Gohmann as the duo fended off an arsenal from of Cushingberry scores. The senior backcourt of Harvey and Langkabel extended the lead to nine with 13:16 remaining in the game, but the Cougars hung around keeping the visitors within one possession.
Gohmann kept the home team at bay by scoring 11 consecutive Marian points, and at the 8:09 mark he got help in the form of a Langkabel trifecta to keep a three-possession advantage. The fifth-year senior's score started the clinching run, as Marian held the Cougars scoreless for nearly four minutes of game time, while Gavin Foe helped extend the lead to 14. The defensive stops helped the Knights control the remainder of the game, icing the waning moments with scores from Harvey and Gohmann to pull away with an 80-69 road win.
The Knights gutty win was padded by a 50.9 shooting percentage, while making 12 of 25 shots from beyond the arc. The advantage for Marian came on the glass, holding a whopping 39-14 edge over St. Francis. Whitaker finished one point away from a career-high as he drained a team-best 22 points on a 7-13 night, making four from deep. Gohmann tied his career high with 18 second half points, capping a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds. Harvey scored 16 point to go with seven assists, while Langkabel scored 15. Foe dropped nine points as he made his first collegiate start.
Marian will return home to host their alumni day game on Saturday, with tip coming 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's contest against Mount Vernon Nazarene. Marian will look to complete a season sweep of MVNU on Saturday, and extend their win streak to 11-consecutive against the Cougars.
MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.
