MARION, Ind. – The Indiana Tech men's basketball team saw its season come to a close Saturday afternoon as they fell to No. 13-ranked Marian University, 65-58, inside Luckey Arena in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round, presented by Ballogy, in the Marion Bracket Championship Game.
How It Happened
- Tech used a hot shooting first half (15-28) to get out to a 35-26 lead after 20 minutes of play. A bucket from Josh Kline on the team's opening possession gave the Warriors the lead from the opening tip, which they would hold until 47 seconds left in the game.
- The Warriors used a 9-0 run to grow the lead to 21-12 at the 9:04 mark of the first half and led by as many as 11 in the half.
- Marian cut the deficit to 39-37 with three minutes gone in the second half, but the Orange and Black grew the lead back up to eight points at 49-41 with 13:06 to play. Tech held the Knights scoreless for nearly four and a half minutes, but couldn't build upon the lead with a nearly similar drought themselves.
- After a triple from Grant Smith put the Warriors up 58-54 with 2:15 to go, the Knights would rattle off an 11-0 run to snatch the game from Tech and send Marian to the NAIA National Championship final site in Kansas City, Mo.
Inside the Box Score
- Rog Stien had a team-high 19 points and nine rebounds while Cory McKinney and Josh Kline had nine points apiece. McKinney chipped in six rebounds and six assists while Kline added three blocks, two rebounds and two steals.
Tech finishes the season with a 22-9 record.
