SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University men's basketball team shot 50 percent (13-for-26) in the second half and outscored Marian University 29-25, but a 19 point halftime deficit was too much to overcome as the Cougars fell 56-42 on Tuesday night in Crossroads League action.
Spring Arbor rallied late, using a 14-3 run to get within 10 with just under four minutes to play. However, Marian would hold SAU to just two points over the final 3:56 to avoid the upset.
The Cougars got off to a slow start to begin the game, making only one field goal attempt through the first 13 minutes against one of the NAIA's top-ranked defenses. Meanwhile, SAU had no answer for Marian's Dion Smith, who scored 21 first half points – hitting all eight of his shots – to give the Knights a 32-13 lead at the break.
Marian (14-7, 5-4 Crossroads League) pushed the margin to 22 six minutes into the second period, but the Cougars would slowly begin to chip away at the deficit. Trailing 47-26, Jimmy Kodet and Zach Medendorp combined for five straight points to ignite a lengthy SAU run. Following back-to-back buckets from Medendorp, Kodet capped the 14-3 scoring spurt with a triple to close the gap to 10, 50-40, with 3:56 remaining.
The Knights would answer, though, with four consecutive points to halt the run, and secure the victory.
Spring Arbor shot just 35 percent (17-for-48) on the night while Marian connected on 48 percent (20-for-42) of its attempts. The Knights also held the edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Cougars 36-26.
Senior Collin Hewitt and junior Greg Hamilton paced the Cougars with nine points apiece. Hewitt added four rebounds and Hamilton dished out four assists. Kodet, Medendorp and Thomas Starks finished with six points each. Starks grabbed a team-high eight boards while Kodet hauled in five.
Spring Arbor (10-12, 1-8 Crossroads League) will begin its second trip through the conference when it visits Goshen College (12-9, 5-4 Crossroads League) on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.
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