Photo Gallery
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (SabreAthletics.com) – On the strength of its defense the Marian University men's basketball team led wire-to-wire to defeat visiting Maranatha Baptist Bible College, 56-37, in Northern Athletics Conference action inside Sadoff Gymnasium, this evening, Feb. 14. The Sabres will host South Division-foe Aurora this Saturday, Feb. 18, in the annual NAC Challenge weekend.
Marian held the Crusaders to 19.2 percent shooting in the first half and 26.3 (15-for-57) percent for the game en route to a dominating victory at home. In a balanced scoring effort,
Cody Veleke led the royal blue and white with a game-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting.
Mike Keller added nine points and nine rebounds, while
Sam Koslowski chipped in eight.
The Sabres finish regular season conference play by improving to 10-14 overall, 7-9 in the NAC. Meanwhile, Maranatha falls to 4-19 (0-16 NAC).
Already leading 34-22 at the 13:42 mark in the second half, the Sabres embarked on a 22-4 run to increase their lead to a commanding 52-26 advantage. From there, Marian coasted to its seventh league win in the last 10 tries.
The Sabre bench turned in a very productive night, outscoring Maranatha 26-9. As a team, Marian shot 47.9 (23-for-48) from the floor. The defense drew 13 turnovers, including nine steals. Keller chipped in two of the team's six blocks in the contest.
The Sabres led 27-14 at halftime with Veleke and Borchardt leading the way with seven points for their respective teams. Marian held the Crusaders to 19.2 percent from the field and outscored them 14-8 in the paint.
Having already secured the fourth seed in the North Division, the Sabres will play host to the fourth-seeded Aurora Spartans of the South Division in the annual NAC Challenge Game this Saturday, Feb. 18. Game time is set for either 1 or 4 p.m. Check sabreathletics.com for updates.
