Terre Haute, Ind. - The Marian men's basketball team had a career-day from Ehladj Diallo who eclipsed his personal best scoring in the second consecutive game, but the second-year Knight's 29 points was not enough as Marian fell 76-74 against Saint Mary of the Woods. The Knights fall to 6-7 after the road loss.

The Pomeroys got off to a strong start in the game, putting Marian in a hole early into the afternoon, falling behind 7-2 through three minutes. Jackson Ames and Gavin Foe helped recover the early deficit and bring the contest to a one possession game, eventually tying the score at 11-11 with 13:00 to play in the opening half on Elhadj Diallo's third score of the day. Marian was unable to grab a lead after knotting the score, and Saint Mary of the Woods responded with a 8-2 run to regain control of the lead. 

The Knights fell behind 28-17 after the Pomeroys found an offensive rhythm, trailing by 11 with 6:14 to play in the opening half. Slowly, the Knights turned the tide in their favor, running the offense through Diallo, as the redshirt-freshman converted a three-point play to spark a Marian run. Over the final six minutes and change in the first half, Marian out-scored Saint Mary of the Woods 19-10, getting 14 points from Diallo in the sprint. Marian would tie the game twice in their run, but were unable to take a lead before the intermission, trailing 38-36 at the break.

Despite their strong close to the first half, Marian was unable to carry their momentum into the start of the second period, giving up a 6-0 run to open the half. Marian regained their composure after calling a timeout, going through Dylan Moles and Diallo to bring the score back within four. The game jockeyed between two and three possessions for much of the second half, as the Knights went shot for shot with their opposition. With 11:41 to play in the game, Hayden Nahra inserted himself into the scoring column for Marian, heating up with a series of points that made the game a one-point contest. Following a seven-point stretch from Nahra, Noah Lovan found Josiah Gustin twice in a 45 second window, with the pair of baskets giving Marian a 61-60 lead.

Marian's first lead of the game came with 8:13 to play, and was expanded to six points over the next 3:30 of game action, with a dunk from Gustin giving Marian a 69-63 advantage. The final media timeout of the game came with 3:55 to play, and after the stoppage Saint Mary of the Woods found momentum, as they rattled off seven unanswered points to regain a 70-69 advantage. Diallo would make two free throws to push Marian back in front 71-70, but in the final two minutes Saint Mary of the Woods proved strong at the foul line, pushing back in front with five points at the charity stripe.

The Knights were within two points with 32 seconds to play, but a late turnover would force Marian to foul in order to extend the game, which aided the Pomeroys lead. Aidan Franks would score a late three-point shot, but time expired on his shot with the Knights trailing by five, as Marian would lose the game 76-74.

As a team, Marian had a strong shooting performance, making an exact 13 of 25 shots in both halves, ending the game 26-50 from the field. Marian also shot 71 percent from three and 89 percent at the foul line. Ehladj Diallo led the team in scoring with his second consecutive career-high, scoring 29 points in the game. Diallo scored 21 of his 29 in the first half, and ended the game shooting 9-11 from the field and a perfect 8-8 from the foul line. Josiah Gustin and Aidan Franks both scored double figures and Hayden Nahra scored nine, as the four leading scorers for Marian all came off the bench, combining for 62 points. Gustin recorded a team-best seven rebounds, and Noah Lovan had six assists. 

Marian's final game of the 2024 calendar year will come next Friday, as they take on East-West at 3:00 p.m. in the PE Center. 

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