Marion, Ind. - The Marian men's basketball suffered a gut-wrenching loss Saturday afternoon against fifth-ranked Indiana Wesleyan, as the Knights' furious second half comeback effort fell short in an 82-78 defeat. Marian is now 14-5 on the season and 4-5 in Crossroads League play.
Marian, who was playing short-handed again on Saturday as they had eight active players available, came out firing and were up to the task in the opening minutes, pouncing to a 5-0 lead behind
Brody Whitaker. The Knights trailed 8-7 at the under-15 media timeout, and pushed back in the lead on alternating possessions with
Nolan Foster and Whitaker putting Marian on the positive side of the ledger. Foster would level the score at 13-13 with 12:51 to play in the first half, but a 5-0 run drove the Wildcats in the lead for good as they gradually snared a 22-15 lead.
Marian would trail by eight coming out of the under-10 media timeout, and would fall behind by as many as 11 in the first half as the Wildcats controlled the tempo. In the final five minutes before halftime, Marian made a push as Whitaker took over, with the junior guard scoring six of his first half 19 points during the stretch. Scores from Marian's freshman duo of
Ben Henderson and
Dylan Moles in the last minute helped cut a 14-point deficit to nine before the half, as Marian entered the locker room trailing 41-32.
Indiana Wesleyan would score the first points of the second half to drive their advantage to 11, but after the 18 minute mark failed to hang on to their double-digit lead as Marian battled to stay in the game. The Knights kept within three possessions of the Wildcats, as contributions from
Maximus Gizzi whittled the difference to four.
Despite the quick rhythm on offense, Marian failed to get equivalent stops on the defensive end, with Indiana Wesleyan matching each of Marian's moves. Indiana Wesleyan's would hit nine, but was erased and down to a one-point contest as a pair of trifectas from the freshman Moles led a charge. The 8-0 run made the score 58-57 in favor of the home team with 10:26 to play, but was not enough to take a lead as Indiana Wesleyan jumped back on top by 10 points once again with 7:50 to play. The Knights would continue to fight, and trailed by two as the clock neared four minutes, with Gizzi and Moles helping make it a 75-73 game.
Gizzi would level the score with 2:26 to play as he earned a trip to the foul line, but a three-point play on the following possession for the Wildcats put the home team on top 78-75. Marian would come up short in initially tying the game, but with 91 seconds to play got quick trey from
Josh Bryan, with the senior tying the score again. A foul on the defensive end by Bryan following his tying shot sent Indiana Wesleyan to the line, where Nathan Childress put the home team in the lead for good with 1:12 to play. Marian put the ball in
Brody Whitaker's hands to try and tie the game, but the junior committed an untimely turnover on the team's final possession, as Indiana Wesleyan iced the game with two final free throws, sealing the 82-78 win.
Whitaker played 37 minutes in the defeat, scoring a team-high 23 points. Gizzi scored 17 points while adding team-highs with seven rebounds and seven assists, playing all 40 minutes. Moles and Foster led Marian's short bench on Saturday, scoring 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
With the conference season now at its midway point, the Knights will have seven days off before their next game with Wednesday built as a scheduled off day. Marian returns to action on Saturday, January 27, as they travel to take on No. 1 Grace College.
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