SPRING ARBOR, MI – With the men's basketball game between the host Spring Arbor University Cougars and the visiting Knight of Marian University very much in doubt, and with just 2.8 seconds remaining, Matt Carden received a perfect pass from Chris Bellamy and made the tough layup and got the foul call for the and-one. The basket put the Cougars in front 57-53 and the game out of reach for Marian despite Carden's missed toss at the line as it made no difference in the outcome.
Before the game was started an announcement was made that this game and games across the country, college basketball coaches were participating in what is called Suits and Sneakers. Coaches wore sneakers with their suits in support of the American Cancer Society and donations were accepted in support of this important cause.
When the game did get underway, it was a closely contested game between two scrappy teams with neither team relinquishing a lead larger than six points during the entire game. Marian held the largest lead of six points (19-13) with 9:00 minutes left in the first half, while the Cougars largest lead of four points () came several times with the last coming with Carden's bucket with 2.8 seconds left.
Carden enjoyed his best offensive performance of the season with 14 points. His strong play of late has seen Carden score double digit points in three of the last four games. In addition to his offensive gem, Carden hauled in a game high nine rebounds.
Rob Hogans led all scorers in the game with 19 points. Hogans connected on three of five shots from 3-point range. Chris Bellamy added 16 points to the Cougars side of the score book.
Matt Van Pelt has made his senior campaign a special one with his outstanding defensive play, but he has really stepped up his ball control during this season. Van Pelt dished out eight of his game high nine assists during the first half to keep the Cougars in the game. Van Pelt committed only two turnovers in the game and his totals this year include 120 assists against only 52 turnovers.
Technically, this is a come-from-behind win for the Cougars as they trailed Marian 32-30 at the half. This win marked the fifth time this year that Spring Arbor has enjoyed a win of this nature.
"We played well tonight, particularly in the second half," said Coach Ryan Cottingham. "Marian is a good team and we needed to get this one tonight."
With the win, Spring Arbor avenges a 75-65 loss to Marian early in the season, and makes a push upward in the Crossroads League into a tie for 6th place with Marian. Both teams are 5-7 in CL action. The Cougars are two games behind St. Francis at 7-5 with USF winning 93-86 at Goshen.
SAU will travel to Grace College on Tuesday night to face the Lancers who sit in 3rd place with a record of 9-3. The game is slated for 7:00 in Winona Lake, IN.
