HUNTINGTON, Indiana - The Marian College men's basketball team looked to close the book on Marian College men's basketball with a victory at Huntington on Saturday afternoon.

 

However, the Marian College basketball era came to a close in an 87-80 defeat that saw two players, one for each team, play highlight-reel basketball.

 

Huntington jumped out to a 6-1 lead over the first 1:34, but the Knights went on a 7-0 run to take an 8-6 lead with 16:26 to go. While Huntington maintained an advantage for the majority of the half, the Knights only allowed the lead to get as high as seven before closing the half down just three, 42-39. The half featured four ties and eight lead changes as the teams fought until the horn.

 

Sophomore Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Indiana/Clinton Central) and Huntington's Tyler Shively one-upped each other throughout the half as they finished with 19 and 22 points, respectively, in the first 20 minutes.

 

The Knights outscored the Foresters, 12-6, in the paint and had 17 points of 13 first half turnovers by the Foresters.

 

The second half was more of the same as HU was able to maintain a lead until the 14:59 mark when the Knights knotted the score, 48-48. The Knights went on a 9-2 run to take a seven-point lead, 57-50, with 12:32 to go.

 

The Foresters slowly chipped away at the lead over the next 2:37 before taking a 60-59 lead with 9:55 to go.

 

HU pushed the lead to as high as six, 65-59 with 8:25 to go, before the Knights decided it was time for them to chip away at the lead.

 

Over the next 4:23, the Knights outscored Huntington 15-8 to take a one-point lead, 74-73, with 4:02 to go. The teams exchanged the lead before a pair of free throws put HU back up one, 77-76, with 3:17 remaining.

 

The Knights could not recover as the Foresters were able to push the lead until the final buzzer and earn the 87-80 victory.

 

Tucker added another 14 points to bring his total to a career-high 33 points. He was 11-for-19 from the field, 3-for-7 from three-point range, and 8-for-9 from the free throw line. Shively finished with 32 points on the afternoon.

 

Freshman Alex Sylvester (Indianapolis/Perry Meridian) added 11 points and four rebounds while sophomore Matt Allee (Greenwood, Indiana/Greenwood) had seven points and a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore Brandon Malone (Indianapolis/North Central) had a team-high five assists for the Knights.

 

The Knights finish the year 11-15 overall and 2-14 in the Mid-Central College Conference. Next season, the Knights will compete as Marian University in their 55th season of basketball.