Marian men's hoops earns crucial sweep of CUW

MEQUON, Wis. - Despite a cold night shooting, Marian University men's basketball (9-11, 8-7 NACC) was able to remain in the hunt for a NACC Tournament bid with a 60-57 win over Concordia Wisconsin securing the season sweep.
No team managed a lead larger than six in the game with a total of nine ties and 12 lead changes in a tight game from start to finish.  Marian would only shoot 21-65 (.323) in the win but doubled up the Falcons on made three-pointers 8-4.  The Sabre defense also played a big role in the victory forcing 30 turnovers, which led to Marian outscoring the Falcons 26-7 in points off turnovers.
The Falcons opened with a 17-12 lead before a three-pointer from junior Will Olewinski capped off an 11-2 run that saw Marian take a 23-19 lead with 6:28 left in the first half.  Marian retained the lead for the remainder of the half and headed to the locker room with a 28-27 advantage.
The second half opened with CUW retaking the lead with a 7-2 run but the Sabres quickly bounced back scoring the next six points to take a 36-34 advantage with 14:47 left to play.  Another 7-0 run shortly after gave Marian a 46-40 advantage with 8:56 left to play, the largest lead for either side in the game.
Concordia Wisconsin wouldn't go away, however, as they managed to take the lead at 55-54 with 2:30 left to play after an 11-6 spurt. Marian responded with junior Tyrese Pinson scoring the next four points from the charity stripe as the Sabres took the lead for good.  Pinson knocked down another pair of free throws with one second remaining to ice the game and close out the game with the final six points of the game for Marian.
Olewinski came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points, shooting 4-8 (.500) from beyond the arc, while freshman Tristan Van Ess and junior Evan Hansen each chipped in 10 points. 
Marian remains on the road traveling to Dominican Saturday, Feb. 3 for a 2 p.m. tip.