MEN’S BASKETBALL

The 8th-ranked Marian Knights pieced together a 6-0 run in the final :45 seconds of play Saturday afternoon to eventually escape Platt Arena with an 88-80 win over the HU men’s basketball team.

The Foresters never let their visitors get too far out of their sight but every time they would creep within a possession or two, MU always had an answer. Never was it more evident than the final stretch. Down 63-51 with 10:36 to go, Spencer Ballinger hustled after his own miss for an easy put back to spark the first of four straight makes by HU that dwindled the lead to just two at 63-61.

Highlighting the spurt were long balls from Caleb Middlesworth, Konner Platt and Hank Pulver. Marian’s answer came by way of back-to-back baskets down low to up the lead to six, 67-61, with just under seven minutes remaining. Fast forward to the 3:44 mark when Huntington trimmed it to two once again, this time at 73-71.

It was Middlesworth’s fourth of five triples that drew his team within a bucket to keep both sets of fans on the edge of their seat. But the visitors, whose laurels rest on the offensive end, reeled off seven straight points for a little breathing room of 80-71 with 1:03 to go.

The Foresters came knocking one more time when Platt drained another three with :48 ticks remaining to make it a two-possession game at 80-74 but the Knights slammed the door shut with one final push, a 6-0 run, to extend their lead to double digits before eight points separated the two teams by the final horn.

While the Knights entered the contest topping the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.442), it was the hosts who showed off their touch from downtown by knocking down 12 treys at a clip of 46.2 percent while limiting Marian to 6-for-18 beyond the arc.

Twelve of Platt’s game-best 21 points came from deep. He also handed out five dimes. Ballinger finished with 20 points to go along with a game-leading ten boards for the double double. Middlesworth finished with 19 points while Pulver added 11 in addition to tallying five assists and three blocks.

Three Knights in Christian Harvey, Hayden Langkabel and Christian Stewart dropped in 17 points each. Cameron Wolter posted 16 points and eight rebounds.

Eight of the Foresters’ 11 losses have been to Top 20 teams as they move to 9-11 on the year, 1-7 in league play. HU hits the road on Tuesday to face Taylor at 7:00 p.m.