INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian men's basketball team breezed to their second victory of the week and third of the season, as the Knights defeated Cumberland University 96-64 in their opening game of the Marian Classic.

The Knights poured on the points early Thursday night, going inside with Maximus Gizzi and Jackson Ames dropping the first four of the evening. Marian ran their lead out to nine by the media timeout following seven combined points between the backcourt tandem Gus Etchison and Brody Whitaker, claiming an early 11-2 lead. The Phoenix were able to get out of their slump and develop offense to run their total to eight, however they failed to get stops as Josh Bryan and Etchison pushed Marian's advantage to double figures. 

Leading 18-8 as the clock hit the 10 minute mark, Marian's offense found another gear as Whitaker, Gizzi, and Gavin Foe helped combine on a 13-3 run to rocket the lead to 20. The four minute burst gave the home team their largest lead of the half, as Marian withstood a late 6-2 push from Cumberland to carry a 40-27 lead at the intermission.

Marian wiped away any chance of a comeback attempt by Cumberland in the opening four minutes of the second half, as strong play inside from Foe and Ames and a deep three from Etchison pushed the lead near 20 points once more. Whitaker and Gizzi helped Marian break over the 20-point barrier for the remainder of the game with back to back scores around the under-15 media timeout, while the freshman duo of Dylan Moles and Ben Henderson's efforts from outside helped hold the game in favor of the Knights.

A fastbreak layup from Etchison at the 9:08 mark gave Marian a commanding 70-43 lead, allowing the guard to turn into the floor general as he dished assists to Whitaker and Foe. Back to back possessions with dunks by Nolan Foster gave the home team their first 30-point lead of the night with 6:27 to play in the game, as the second hammer put an 81-51 score on the board. 

Marian added 15 points to their total over the final six minutes as they were able to rotate in the entirety of the roster, getting the first collegiate points from Aidan Franks and an Elhadj Diallo bucket in the closing run. Diallo put the final points on the board for Marian while a late Cumberland three ended the scoring, as Marian comfortably completed their wire-to-wire 96-64 victory.

The Knights ended the game shooting a blistering 62.1 percent from the floor, while knocking down 8-of-17 shots from downtown. Gus Etchison led the Knights in scoring with 18 points while adding eight assists, and Gavin Foe recorded his second double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Whitaker finished the game with 16 points, and Moles scored a season-best 15 points off the bench. Each of Marian's 11 active players on Thursday night scored two or more points in the win.

Marian will finish the week with the final game of their home classic on Friday night, hosting East-West at 7:30 p.m.



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