INDIANAPOLIS – The Spring Arbor University men's basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive with an impressive road victory over Marian University on Tuesday night, defeating the Knights 78-74.
The win, coupled with a Huntington University loss, put SAU in a tie for eighth place in the Crossroads League standings. The Cougars hold the tie-breaker over the Foresters, however, with a 2-0 head-to-head record.
Five Cougars scored in double figures, led by 15 points from junior Greg Hamilton, who went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line down the stretch to help seal the victory.
Both teams shot extremely well as Spring Arbor hit 57 percent (30-for-53) of its attempts while Marian (16-13, 7-10 Crossroads League) shot 64 percent (29-for-45) from the field. The Cougars outscored the Knights 46-36 in the paint, though, and held an 8-3 advantage in second chance points.
The first half of action started out very tight seeing multiple lead changes with neither team able to build more than a five point edge. However, a jumper from senior Collin Hewitt evened the score at 25-25 at the 6:18 mark, and kick started an 11-0 run that propelled the Cougars to a 40-33 halftime advantage.
Spring Arbor managed to fight off the Knights throughout the early stages of the second half, maintaining its lead for the first 14 minutes of the period. MU's Dion Smith – one of the league's premier scorers – began to take over at the midway point, though. With the Knights trailing 61-55 at the 8:39 mark, Smith fueled a 9-2 run with seven of his game-high 24 points to give the home team its first lead since the 6:30 mark of the first stanza.
Senior Tyler Hughes halted the run, however, converting an old-fashioned three-point play on the ensuing possession to put SAU back on top.
With just over a minute to play, the Cougars were clinging to a one point lead when sophomore Thomas Starks came up with a huge offensive rebound and put-back to boost the margin to three, 74-71.
Hughes and Hewitt finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Starks followed with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds off the bench. Sophomore Caleb Hogans also chipped in 11 points while registering three assists and three steals.
Spring Arbor (13-16, 4-13 Crossroads League) can clinch the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament with a win over Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday or a Huntington loss. Before the game with MVNU, the Cougars will honor their seniors with the opening tip to follow at 3 p.m.
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