RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Marian University men’s basketball (2-10, 1-6 NACC) saw a seven-point halftime lead erased in a 70-61 loss at Dominican.
The opening portion of the first half went back-and-forth with Dominican taking a 17-16 lead with 7:48 left in the half. Marian was then able to take the first comfortable lead of the game with a 10-5 lead that saw the Sabres go ahead 27-21 with 3:34 in the half. The Sabres closed out the final minutes extending their lead out to 34-27 heading into the break.
Marian had an especially strong opening half going 12-24 (.500) from the field including 5-8 (.625) shooting from beyond the arc. Junior DeAndre Ross had a big half producing 19 points in the half off the bench.
Dominican bounced back in the first 1:51 of the second half cutting the Marian lead down to two. Marian had an answer, however, scoring six unanswered points to push take their largest lead of the game at 40-32 with 17:04 left to play. The momentum shifts continued with Dominican managing to tie the game shortly after at 42-42 with a 10-2 run.
The two squads played tightly until the Stars took the lead for good at the 8:12 mark at 52-51. Marian kept the deficit down to five heading into the final minute but the Star offense was able to ice the game and set the final at 70-61.
Ross finished the game with a season-high 25 points off of 10-17 (.588) shooting, while sophomore Hunter Schultz and Scott Paulus each grabbed six rebounds. On the defensive end, Paulus also recorded a career-high four blocks.
Marian remains on the road traveling to Concordia Wisconsin for a 2 p.m. tip Saturday, Jan. 11.
–FightBlueFight–
