LISLE, Ill. – Alex Stecker and Reggie Roemer each scored 20 points as Marian suffered an 84-76 setback at No. 12-ranked Benedictine Saturday afternoon in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference action at the Rice Center.

The Sabres' offense found success early and a Connor Morovits 3-pointer at 10:41 put the Blue and White up 21-17.

BU responded when Shawn Soelter converted a 3-pointer to give the Eagles a 22-21 advantage. From there the home team went on a brief 9-2 run and at the 7:11 led 31-23.

MU retaliated and at 3:34 Roemer hit a jumper to bring the Sabres to within three at 38-35. Just when the Sabres looked to strike, the Eagles closed out the half with an 11-3 run and entered the break with a 49-35 lead.

BU (5-0, 2-0 NACC) started where it left off to begin the second half and opened up a 57-39 lead – its largest of the game. However, MU gradually chipped away at the deficit and at 1:02 Roemer drove hard down the lane and laid the ball in the basket to bring the Sabres to within five at 79-74.

Despite the setback, MU (3-4, 0-3 NACC) played well offensively and produced one of its best offensive outputs this season. As a team the Sabres shot 44 percent (26-of-59) from the field, including a smoking 57 percent (8-of-14) from beyond the arc.

The Eagles hit 48 percent (30-of-62) of their shots from the floor.

Josh Creed scored 13 points and Montrell Hobbs helped out with 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season.

Lucas Johnson scored a game-high 21 points to lead BU.

MU returns to the hardwood Wednesday at Aurora.

--FightBlueFight--