The Mount Vernon Nazarene University women’s basketball team trailed by as much as 30 at top-seeded Marian.
The Cougars rallied back, closing within nine in the fourth quarter before falling, 87-75, in a Crossroads League tournament semifinal in Indianapolis.
Marian went on a 14-0 run in the first quarter to take control. The Knights (26-4) led 31-7 after one quarter and extended the lead to 47-17 at the 3:25 mark of the second.
Fourth-seeded MVNU, which trailed by 25 at the half, went on a 20-8 run in the third quarter to pull within 63-52.
But Marian rallied again in the fourth, pushing the lead back to 18 near the halfway mark before Sage Brannon led a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer and two free throws to pull the Cougars (15-11) within 81-72 with 3:07 left.
Maggie Coe had 18 points, three assists and three steals; Elizabeth Fee added 16 points, six rebounds and three assists; and Brannon finished with 15 points, six steals and three boards for MVNU.
Shanyce Makuel led the Knights with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench. Kinnidy Garrard had 18 points and four rebounds, and Tamia Perryman chipped in 14 points and six boards for Marian.
Rachel Perry added 12 points and three helpers, and Rylee Pireu chipped in 10 points and four assists for the Cougars.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Second-seeded Marian scored the first six points and never trailed in a 79-70 victory over MVNU in a semifinal of the Crossroads League tournament on Saturday, Feb. 27, in Indianapolis.
Christian Stewart, who opened the game with a 3-pointer, went for 21 points, seven assists and seven rebounds to lead the Knights (21-4). Christian Harvey had 14 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists; and Cameron Wolter added 11 points and nine rebounds for Marian, which led 39-26 at the break and pushed its lead as high as 17 in the second half.
Jevon Knox had 19 points and six assists; Clay Hilliard had 18 points and four rebounds; and Kyle Kegley went for 17 points, 13 rebounds and three steals to lead the sixth-seeded Cougars (9-13), who chipped away and got as close as seven on three Knox free throws with 51 seconds remaining.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Spencer Stanley had 14 kills and Caden Donaldson added 11 kills to lead MVNU to a 25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 25-16 victory over Judson in non-conference play on Friday, Feb. 26, at Ariel Arena in Mount Vernon.
Jaysen Matsumoto was strong with 31 assists and a pair of aces along with eight digs, Daniel Skrzypchiak had 13 digs, Landon Ewers had four assists and Jonathan Champlin had two aces to help pace the Cougars (4-5).
Tom Kurzynski had 32 assists and two aces, Javier Arreguin had eight kills, Noah McConville had 13 digs, and Greg Geake and Jacob Wallin had three blocks each for the Eagles (4-13).
BOWLING
The MVNU women’s team (3,509) finished eighth out of 10 teams and the men’s team (3,928) was ninth out of nine teams in the Ohio Bowling Conference No. 3 tournament on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Sawmill Lanes in Columbus.
Notre Dame College took top honors in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. The men’s team won with a score of 4,993 and the women’s team rolled a 4,445.
