NAC Tournament Bracket

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (SabreAthletics.com) – The Marian University men's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 78-68 loss to host Lakeland College on the road, this evening, Feb. 12. The Muskies clinched the outright North Division title in the Northern Athletics Conference and secured the top overall seed, while the Sabres had to settle for the eighth seed, despite having the fifth-best league record, according to conference seeding procedures.

Marian led by as many as seven points in the first half before Lakeland came back to tie at 29-all at halftime. A four-point play by James Oshkeshequoam with 2:00 left stretched a one possession game into a three-possession game and the Muskies sealed it from there at the charity stripe. Jake Schwarz led all scorers with 26 points, while Justin Ward and Oshkeshequoam each added 16.

Marian's Cody Veleke led four in double figures with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Sam Koslowski added 17 points, while Mike Keller chipped in 12 and Drew Binversie 11.

Lakeland improved to 20-5 overall, 13-3 in the NAC, while Marian fell to 15-10 (10-6 NAC).

At the 5:48 mark in the first half, Koslowski's three-pointer gave the Sabres a 25-18 advantage, their biggest lead of the game. However, an 11-4 run by Lakeland closed out the half, capped by a Schwarz tip-in to make it 29-29.

The Sabres fell behind by nine points, 52-43, before making a run of their own. A Binversie layup started the rally. Alex Stecker then knocked down a three-pointer to cut the deficit to three points, 54-51. After Lakeland bumped the advantage back up to five, Veleke cut it back down to three before Binversie tied the game at 56-all with 6:49 remaining.

Trailing again by five points with under three minutes left, Veleke cut the Sabre deficit to three with a layup to make it 67-64 Lakeland with 2:28 remaining. On the next Muskie possession, Oshkeshequoam drained a three and was fouled by Brad Koth. The ensuing free throw made it a seven-point advantage and made an upset bid seemingly disappear.

Although the Sabres fell short tonight, they will have another crack at the Muskies on a bigger stage during the first round of the NAC Tournament. Game time is slated for 2 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 16. A Marian fan bus will be provided. See Brenda Stobb in Admin 110 to sign-up.