MISHAWAKA, Ind. - The Marian University men's basketball team stayed with NAIA Division II No. 3-ranked Bethel College, but the Pilots overpowered the Knights down the stretch to send the Knights to a 94-84 defeat in Mishawaka, Ind., on Saturday.

Junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) tallied a game-high 32 points on 11-of-21 shooting, grabbed a team-high six rebounds, and dished out a team-high four assists to lead the Knights.

After going back-and-forth over the first four minutes, a Tucker jumper tied the score at 9-9 with 15:25 to go in the first half. The Knights then went on a 5-0 run to take a 14-9 lead with 14:09 to go before the Pilots battled back to tie the score at 18-18 at the 12:01 mark.

The teams went back-and-forth again as the Knights tied the score, 23-23, before a Pilots bucket put them in front by a pair, 25-23, with 9:57 to go in the half. A Tucker free throw cut it to one, but the Pilots embarked on a 12-0 run to take a 12-point lead, 36-24, with 6:20 remaining. They eventually pushed the lead to 18 on a three-pointer with eights seconds to go to head into the locker room with a 54-36 lead.

The Pilots nearly set the net on fire as they shot 75 percent (21-of-28) in the first half. The Knights shot a respectable 48 percent (13-of-27) in the first 20 minutes.

Out of the locker room, the Knights slowly but surely chipped away at the Bethel lead as they cut it down to 10, 61-51, with 12:22 remaining in the game. A pair of Bethel buckets pushed the lead back to 14, 65-51, before the Knights went on a 13-2 run to cut the lead to three, 67-64, with 7:42 to go.

Bethel was able to push the lead back to 12, 86-74, with 2:08 to go and the Knights could get no closer than eight as the No. 3-ranked Pilots were able to close out the 94-84 victory. Bethel three-pointers at the 7:17 and 6:47 marks proved to be the turning points as the Knights closed the lead to three and four before those shots were hit.

Junior Anthony Furlin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) was the other Knight in double figures after he tallied 13 points. Sophomore Alex Sylvester (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) and junior Matt Allee (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood) tallied nine and seven points, respectively.

The Knights come back to the Physical Education Center on Tuesday night when Indiana Wesleyan University comes to Indianapolis for an MCC matchup. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. with the game airing LIVE on XL 950 AM (WXLW). Brad Wochomurka (p-b-p) and Joe Haklin (color) will call all the action beginning at 6:50 p.m.