INDIANAPOLIS - 20 first half bench points and strong stretches of defense aided the Marian men's basketball team Wednesday night, as they completed a season sweep over Spring Arbor with a 68-51 victory. The win snaps the two-game losting streak for Marian, and improves the Knights to 19-7 overall this season.
Hayden Langkabel scored the first points of the game, but Spring Arbor held the upper-hand in the opening minutes as they paced their way in front with a 9-3 run. Marian stopped their drought of three minutes and used a 11-0 run to reclaim the lead, getting instant offense from Nolan Foster. Bench production continued to come as Brody Whitaker buried a three-pointer, and later sunk two at the foul line to cap the run. The spurt helped push the Knights in front as the clock ticked to the 10-minute mark, leading 14-11.
Luke Heady continued the scoring streak for the bench, scoring seven points in a 9-2 run to vaulted the lead to nine points. Heady's final score in the run forced a Spring Arbor timeout, which did little to aid their scoring drought. A layup from Christian Harvey would provide Marian's first double figure lead, while the defense shutout the Cougars for nearly four minutes, stopping their opponents offense until an Eli White three broke the silence. Marian's defense would continue to make life miserable on the Cougars as the half concluded, with Langkabel knocking in a pair of scores to lead his team to a 33-19 advantage at the break.
Spring Arbor answered their 14-point halftime deficit with a 6-2 run in the opening two minutes, forcing a quick timeout by the Knights to regroup. Josh Bryan canned an open three to get his team on track, with Foster scoring a pair of layups to control a 15-point edge. Marian would hold a double-digit lead for the remainder of the half after Bryan dialed it back in, with the lead soaring to as many as 21, with a dunk from Langkabel and post scoring by Whitaker aiding the lead.
Marian would get challenged late by the Cougars as they sunk a pair of three-pointers to make it a five possession game in the closing minutes, but using the inside game of Jackson Ames, the Knights were able withstand the push and complete the 68-51 victory.
The Knights finished the sweep with a plus-17 advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Spring Abor 44-27. Marian had 17 offensive rebounds in the win, with five belonging to Ames who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds. Langkabel led all players with 19 points, and the bench unit combined to score 33 points, with Whitaker, Foster, and Maximus Gizzi each scoring eight.
Marian will aim to avenge an early season loss to No. 13 Indiana Wesleyan when they make the trip to Marion on Saturday. Tip from Luckey Arena is set for 3:00 p.m.
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