Winona Lake, Ind. - The Marian men's basketball team saw their season-long nine-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon, as the Knights were defeated in the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals by Grace College, losing 94-73. Marian is now 23-7 overall on the season.
Grace's strong shooting performance started from the opening tip, as the Lancers put the Knights in a 10-2 hole just over three minutes into the game. After an early timeout Marian was slowly able to get their bearings, as
Brody Whitaker and
Gus Etchison were able to bring the score within seven at the first media stoppage of the afternoon. Grace pushed their lead back to double figures at the 12 minute mark of the opening half, where they would carry their advantage for much of the half.
The Knights continued to play from behind as Grace led 28-15 at the second media timeout, and trailed by as many as 17 in the half as the host Lancers held their shooting percentage at a 68 percent clip. The Knights trailed 40-23 with 5:40 to play in the first half, and hit a groove that made the difference eight points as
Nolan Foster scored inside to end a Grace run. Etchison and
Maximus Gizzi played key roles in getting Marian back within three scores at the half, as the Knights trailed 36-44 at the half.
Opening the second half, Marian scored four quick points behind the right-hand of Etchison to cut their deficit to six points, but that would be the closest the Knights would get, as the Lancers pulled back in front by 10. Marian would rock their score within nine and 11 points for a four minute stretch as the Lancers continued to stay in control. A 6-2 run paced by Elijah Malone increased Grace's lead to 15 points, and prompted a timeout for Marian trailing 64-59 with 11:54 to play.
Marian was able to settle after the timeout and bring the score within 11 points, but were unable to close the gap from there as Malone and Jake Wadding increased the Lancers' lead to 18 points. Grace continued to knock down shots to answer Marian's offense, taking a lead of 22 points in the final minutes of the game as the Knights were unable to make a comeback, falling 94-73.
Etchison led the team in scoring with 23 points, and Whitaker finished the game with 18 points. Foster and
Ben Henderson combined for 15 points, and Gizzi finished the game with seven as well.
Jackson Ames led the team in rebounding with six in the loss.
Marian will learn their selection for the NAIA National Tournament on Thursday, March 7. The NAIA Selection Show will be shown on the NAIA YouTube channel, and will air at 7:00 p.m. ET.
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