Sabre men’s basketball rallies to defeat MSOE

Marian University men’s basketball (1-4, 1-1 NACC) rallied from a nine-point deficit midway through the second half to hand MSOE their first NACC loss with a 64-57 final.

After MSOE opened up a 44-36 lead with 9:04 left in the second half, Marian would go on to score the next six points unanswered capped off by a dunk from senior Alex Manhardt with 7:16 left in regulation.  Shortly after, back-to-back layups from freshman Taylor Rahn and junior Tyrese Pinson would knot the game up at 48-48 with 5:28 left to play.

It wasn’t until 1:57 remained in regulation that Marian would take their first lead since the first half when Rahn made a three-pointer to give MU a 22-20 lead with 6:39 in the first half with a pair of Manhardt free throws.

After a stop on the defensive end, a big three-pointer from Pinson with 1:13 remaining would give the Sabres a big 58-54 lead.  Rahn and junior Kelvin Jones would each sink a pair of free throws in the final seconds to clinch the 64-57 win.

The Sabres would go 12-29 (.414) from the field in the second half to spark the come back and went 15-19 (.789) from the charity stripe.  The Marian defense also put together a better half in the second stanza holding MSOE to 7-22 (.318) shooting.

The first half saw each offense shoot well and balance out the scoring.  The Raiders would hold a 28-24 lead at the break after shooting 4-7 (.571) from beyond the arc.  Marian would also have a good half to open the game beyond the arc going (4-9) led by freshman Will Olewinski who had a pair of triples.

Manhardt recorded his second double-double of the year with a game-high 17 points and 18 rebounds, 13 on the defensive end, while also adding three assists and two blocks.  Rahn also chipped in double-digit points with 11.

Marian hits the road Saturday, Dec. 2 for a 3 p.m. (CST) tip at Finlandia.

–FightBlueFight–