FOND DU LAC - Marian University men's basketball (15-10, 11-7 NACC) enters the postseason having won five of its last six games, including a 74-67 victory over Rockford.
- Before tip-off, Marian honored its five seniors: Derek Lindert, Michael Matz, Jazz Orozco, Alex Schlichting, and Alex Vassilakis, each of whom played in the game.
- Marian got off to a hot start, making six of their first seven shots to take a 16-6 lead.
- Junior Andrew Ayeni reached 10 points in the first six minutes with an and-one layup.
- Matz entered the scoring column for just the third time in his Sabres career on a fastbreak layup, pushing the lead to 21-11.
- Rockford held Marian without a field goal for five minutes but could only cut the lead to seven before sophomore Harper Krolak ended the drought with a layup.
- Marian went into halftime leading 42-31, with Ayeni leading the way with 14 points and four steals.
- The Regents opened the second half on a 16-7 run, cutting the Marian lead to just two points.
- With 4:22 remaining, Rockford evened the game at 58-58 on a layup from Adrian Agee, having outscored Marian 27-16 in the second half.
- Freshman Marvin Haslett's coast-to-coast and-one layup broke the two-point deadlock and gave Marian the momentum with just over two minutes to play.
- After a tough defensive rebound from Vassilakis on the next play, Ayeni scored on a layup with 1:10 remaining to push the lead to five.
- Rockford kept it close with a second-chance layup with 36 seconds left, but the Sabres' 7-of-10 free-throw shooting in the final minute was enough to seal the win.
- Ayeni's six-steal performance moves him to the top of the NACC steals leaderboard with 2.0 per game and 51 total, while also tying the NACC single-game high for the 2025-26 season.
- Vassilakis' 228 rebounds are the most in a single season since Scott Paulus' 232 in 2021-22.
- Marian went 25-of-34 from the free-throw line, including a perfect 12-of-12 in the first half.
- Marian forced 19 turnovers, converting them into a 24-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
- Jaden Bell led Rockford with 20 points and six rebounds.
- The Sabres and Regents met for the 39th time, with Rockford holding a narrow lead in the all-time series, 20-19.
- Marian evened the season series after losing 74-63 at Rockford on Jan. 17.
- The Sabres enter the postseason aiming for their first NACC tournament win since 2023 and their first road tournament win since 2022.
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Junior Andrew Ayeni tied his career high with 25 points and added six steals. |
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Freshman Marvin Haslett contributed 15 points, going 9-of-10 from the free-throw line. |
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Senior Jazz Orozco added three steals, marking his sixth game this season with three or more steals. |
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NACC Quarterfinals
Tuesday, February 24
Mequon, Wis.
7 p.m. |
