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02.21.09
- A feisty Marian
College squad kept things interesting on the Foresters' Senior Day,
but in the end, HU (19-11) prevailed 87-80 over the Knights in their
regular season finale.
After senior Kyle Benge dropped in
the first trey of the game for the Foresters, things got a little
rocky. HU turned the ball over five times in seven possessions
to allow Marian to hang with the Foresters early. With the
score tied at 17, Kellen Zawadzki knocked down a pair of free throws
to open an 11-2 run giving HU its largest lead of the game at 28-21
with 7:52 left in the half. Three more Forester turnovers late
in the period fueled a Knight rally as they knotted the score for
the fourth time at 36 with 1:10 on the clock. An old-fashioned
3-point play by Tyler Shively gave HU a 42-39 lead at the break.
Marian charged
out of the locker room with an 18-8 run to take its largest lead of
the contest at 57-50 at the 12:32 mark. The Foresters
responded with a 15-2 spurt to reclaim the lead four minutes later
at 65-59. The Knights still were not done and climbed back in
front at 76-75 on a Jordan Tucker jumper with 3:38 to play. On HU's
next possession, Benge was fouled and drained two charity tosses to
finally put the Foresters in front for good. The Foresters got
a defensive stop at Marian's end and Benge scored on a driving layup
to put HU up three. He then connected on four consecutive free
throws in the final 38 seconds to seal the win.
Shively led the
Foresters in the winning effort with a double-double with 32 points
and 10 boards. Benge tallied 20 points and a game-high six assists
in his final home game. Zawadzki chipped in 14 points and Luke
Smith finished with 11. Tucker topped all scorers in the game
with 33 points for Marian. Alex Sylvester was the only other
Knight to reach double figures with 11 points.
The Foresters now
head into postseason play as the #6-seed in the MCC Tournament.
HU will travel to Winona Lake to face the #3-seeded Grace College
Lancers at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25.
Other first round match-ups include #8 Taylor at #1 Bethel; #7
Goshen at #2 Indiana Wesleyan; and #5 Spring Arbor at #4 St.
Francis.
Box Score
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