Marian University men’s basketball (14-9, 12-4 NACC) defeated Lakeland 82-78 to close out NACC play.
- The Sabres never trailed and were able to hold off a late rally from Lakeland to earn the win.
- Marian was able to get out to a fast start opening the game with a 20-8 lead.
- The Sabres were able to build their lead to as large as 26-11 with 9:08 to play in the first half.
- A late 8-2 run from Lakeland to close out the opening half saw the Muskies cut their deficit down to 40-33 going into the break.
- From there, both teams went basket for basket for most of the second half.
- Lakeland managed to cut its deficit down to as small as two at 72-70 with 3:57 to play.
- Marian quickly used five unanswered points to build its lead back out to seven and used this run to earn the win.
- The Sabres were able to go 4-of-4 (1.000) from the charity stripe in the final 20 seconds to ice the game.
- Marian shot 30-of-64 (.469) from the field and went 8-of-19 (.421) on three-pointers. The Sabres were 4-of-7 (.571) on three-pointers and 12-of-17 (.706) at the free throw line in the second half.
- The Sabres held a slim 36-32 advantage for points in the paint and 10-5 in points following turnovers.
- Marian was able to win the rebounding battle by a 39-29 margin and had 11 offensive boards.
- Marian finishes NACC play with 12 victories, the most since the 2013-14 season. It also just the third time in the NACC era Marian has won at least 12 regular season conference games.
- The Sabres are now solidified as the No. 3 seed for the NACC Tournament and will host the opening round Wednesday, February 22 at 7 p.m. The opponent will be determined based on results from Saturday, February 18.
