FOND DU LAC - Marian University men's basketball trailed by only three at halftime but fell to MSOE 69-53 in their series opener.

The Sabres jumped out to a fast start scoring nine of the first 11 points and brought that lead out to 14-7 with 12:09 left in the half.  The Raiders were able to then put together a 14-3 run of their own to take a 21-17 advantage with 5:28 left in the half.  The two squads then played tightly out to a 29-26 halftime score.

A jumper from junior David Britton brought the Sabre deficit to 38-33 with 16:37 left in the game before the Raiders went on a 13-2 run to take a commanding 51-35 lead.  The Sabres would battle to bring their deficit down to single digits but fell by a final of 69-53.

Britton paced the Sabres with 13 points, while junior Scott Paulus grabbed 10 rebounds and had a pair of blocks.

Marian closes out the series hosting MSOE tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 20, for a 5 p.m. tip.