FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Despite one of Marian's best offensive outings of the season, the Knights men's basketball program was unable to snap its losing skid on Saturday afternoon, as the University of Saint Francis won 95-87. Marian's twelfth consecutive loss drops the team to 5-21 on the year, and 2-14 in Crossroads League play, eliminating the Knights from the CL Tournament for a second consecutive season.

The Knights got off to a red-hot start on Saturday, scoring early and often as the team won the first three minutes of play following an Aaron Humphrey Jr. layup. Ron Rutland III and Aidan Franks followed their teammates' lead and began burning the nets with shots inside and out, opening up a 22-13 advantage. The Marian lead would hit 11 points as Humphrey Jr. capped an 8-0 run with a mid-range jumper, but the make at 12:09 would close the largest lead of the game for the Knights, as Saint Francis attacked the basket with Marr Avance and Karson Rogers points. 

Marian remained in front at the mid-way point with a 28-19 lead, but could not keep a firm hold on the game, as a personal 8-3 scoring run from the Cougars' Jevon Lewis whittled the margin to four. Ehladji Diallo would push Marian's lead back to six with 6:24 remaining in the first half as he buried a three, but it was not enough to keep the Cougars down, as Saint Francis eventually tied the score with a 6-0 run. The host Cougars would finish the final five minutes of the first half on a 17-10 run, owning the paint as they scored five of their final six shots from inside going into halftime.

Saint Francis led at halftime over Marian 51-46.

The defensive woes at the end of the first half for Marian carried over into the second, as the Cougars came out of the locker room on fire, defending their home floor with a 7-0 run in the period's first 80 seconds. The run put the Knights in a 12-point hole, one they would not be able to overcome, even with the team getting consistent contributions from Aidan Franks, Aaron Humphrey Jr., and Luke Lindeman. Franks and Humphrey shouldered the load as each player pushed their individual totals over 15 points, while Lindeman brought his team within eight with 10:01 to play. 

Trailing 73-65 after Lindeman's score, Marian would continue to struggle in making stops on the defensive end, as the offensive rhythm did not translate, leading to the Cougars flooding the paint with Rogers and Avance baskets. A surge of intensity would see Marian get within four points twice in the final 10 minutes of play, applying enough pressure to make the game a five-point affair with 6:07 remaining. Despite getting the game to an 80-75 score, the Cougars would prevail on their offensive end, scoring on five of seven possessions to maintain a three-possession lead.

The Knights applied late pressure after falling behind by 11 in the last three minutes and were able to close the gap within four points in the final minute, but after trailing for the entirety of the second half, Marian had exerted all of its energy, coming up on the losing end of Saturday's 95-87 contest. 

Marian ended the afternoon with the team's second-best shooting effort of the season, hitting at a 53.1 percent clip from the floor as a unit. Marian also made 12 three-pointers in the game, the most made in a single game this season by a margin of four. Aaron Humphrey Jr. scored a Marian-high 29 points, logging the most points for any Knight in a single game this season. Aidan Franks scored 21 in the loss, and Ron Rutland III had 15 points to go with six rebounds. Ehladj Diallo led the bench with 11 points. 

Defensively, Marian was unable to slow down Karson Rogers, who finished the game with his career-high of 40 points. The Cougars' had two additional players finish the game with 20 points each, as Saint Francis had the third-best offensive scoring game of the season against Marian. 

The final week of Marian's season begins at No. 3 Indiana Wesleyan, with the Knights looking to pull an upset in the CL Standings as they take on the Wildcats on Wednesday, February 18. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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