INDIANAPOLIS - Needing a win to earn a home game in the Crossroads League Tournament, the Marian men's basketball team won a thriller Saturday afternoon, outlasting Taylor 85-83 in double-overtime to close their regular season. Marian's win gives them a 20-8 overall mark as they end league play with a 10-8 record.
The Knights got off to a strong start, going through Taeshon Cherry from the start of the game as the senior poured in eight points in the first three minutes of the game. Marian pushed their lead to six moments after the under-16 media timeout, but Taylor slowly got into the game after using a timeout tying the game on an 8-0 run. Knotted at 16-16, Brody Whitaker canned his second shot of the game to recapture the lead, with a pair of three pointers from Luke Heady keeping the home team on top as the clock ticked under 10 minutes to go in the opening half.
Heady's second trifecta at the 9:36 mark would be Marian's last score in a three minute spell, as they went cold from the field and allowed Taylor to capture a two-point edge with their 6-0 run. Cherry subsided the storm with a three of his own, turning the game into a back and forth contest. With 3:34 to play before the break, Christian Harvey turned up his scoring powers, scoring 10 straight points against Taylor to help Marian go into the locker room with a 42-37 lead.
Luke Gohmann scored a putback on the opening Marian possession of the second half to make it a seven-point lead, helping them keep distance over Taylor. A three-point swing from Harvey would keep it a six-point game going into the first media timeout of the second half, but was not enough as the Trojans climbed back in front 53-52 over the next four minutes. Trailing by one with 12:33 to play, Marian's scoring dropped off, as they went under a lengthy cold spell from the field of over seven minutes. In the drought, Marian would manage four points at the charity stripe from Whitaker and Cherry, helping them keep pace with Jason Hubbard and the Trojans.
Marian's drought was finally answered at the 6:12 mark as Cherry got a shot to fall, putting his team back within two trailing 60-58. Hayden Langkabel would tie the game at the line, and put Marian in the lead with 3:38 to go, but on the ensuing possession Hubbard drew contact against Cherry, earning a three-point play and fouling the Knights forward out of the game. The game went scoreless for one minute, but the crowd erupted with over two minutes to go as Harvey put his team on top 67-65 with a deep three. Anton Webb would answer Harvey with an open layup to tie the game, and despite good looks for both teams including a contested layup for Harvey as time expired, neither team led in the final 1:50.
Going to overtime for the first time this season, Marian stayed composed as the two sides traded scores. Whitaker, Harvey, and Langkabel handled the first three equalizers of the extra session, while Whitaker made it a tie game with 1:05 to go as he calmly drained two free throws. Taylor went to Hubbard on their following possession as they took a lead, but it was short-lived as Christian Harvey raced the floor on a layup to tie the game. The Trojans had a chance to win on the final possession as Gavin Yoon heaved a three-pointer, but it fell short sending the game to a second overtime.
In the second bonus quarter, Marian went on top first, with Whitaker out-scoring Taylor 5-2 in the opening minute. Marian's lead held until the 2:26 mark as Hubbard connected on a fadeaway, as Taylor went back in front 83-82. Marian went to Langkabel to try and find another lead, and after missing a three, came back on offense after forcing a stop and drained a jumper to put his team in front 84-83. Marian's defense showed strong late forcing a Hubbard miss and Taylor turnover, padding the lead by a point as Harvey drained a late free throw. Taylor would have one final look with 4.7 seconds remaining, but were unable to hit as Yoon missed a contested three to leave Marian victorious 85-83.
Marian ended the game shooting 41 percent from the floor, playing level with Taylor as each team had three blocked shots and three steals. Harvey led the Knights in scoring with 25 points, while Cherry scored 22 points in 29 minutes of work. Whitaker led the bench unit with 15 points, and Langkabel had 12 points to go with six rebounds. Gohmann led the Knights in rebounding with seven, while adding a team-best three assists.
With Marian's ninth consecutive win against Taylor, coupled with a loss suffered by Bethel University, the Knights earned the fourth seed in the upcoming Crossroads League Tournament, and will host the quarterfinal round on February 22. Tip on Wednesday night against the Bethel Pilots is slated for 7:00 p.m. in the PE Center.
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