INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian University men's basketball team fought to end agains the NAIA Division II No. 15-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University Wildcats on Tuesday night. The Knights fell behind by 13, 39-26, at halftime, and, while they won the second half, could not overcome the deficit in a 65-57 defeat at the Physical Education Center.

Junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) led three Knights in double figures with 16 points as the Knights fell to 7-9 on the season and 0-6 in Mid-Central College Conference play.

Marian fell behind  right out of the gate, 10-4 with 15:56 to go in the first half, but battled back with a 7-2 run to cut the lead to one, 12-11, with 13:54 to go. The Wildcats eventually pushed the lead to eight, 23-15, with 7:30 to go. The teams traded buckets before IWU was able to open a 10-point lead, 29-19, with 5:01 to go. The Knights chipped away, but IWU answered every Knight bucket with one of its own.

Marian cut it back to seven, 33-26, with 2:40 to go before IWU went on a 6-0 run to close the half with a 13-point advantage at 39-26. The wildcats' size under the bucket was a problem for the Knights in the first half as they out-scored the Knights 16-10 in the paint. However, the Knights were not about to go down without a struggle.

The Knights cut the lead to 10 with three straight points to open the second half, but IWU went on a quick 5-0 spurt to take a 15-point lead, 44-29, with 16:37 to go in the game.

A layup by Tucker sparked an 11-0 Marian run that cut the lead to four, 44-40, with 13:19 remaining. Freshman Mac Fiely (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville) capped the run with a three-pointer to get the Knights back into the ballgame.

The teams went back-and-forth as the Knights were able to keep the advantage between four and seven points from the 13:19 mark to the 6:02 mark when an IWU layup put the Wildcats up eight at 55-47.

The Knights were able to trim that lead back to three after two free throws by junior Brandon Malone (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) and a three-pointer by Fiely. The Knights were down 58-55 with 3:41 remaining.

However, IWU capitalized on a pair of turnovers at the 2:52 and 1:55 mark with a layup and a three-pointer to put the Wildcats back up by eight, 63-55, with 1:29 to go. A layup by junior Anthony Furlin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) cut the lead to six, but a pair of free throws sealed the 65-57 win for the Wildcats.

The Knights stayed right with the No. 15 team in the nation even though they shot just 34 percent (19-of-56) for the game. However, the IWU post presence was too much as the Wildcats out-scored the Knights 32-18 in the paint for the game, and they also out-scored the Knights 22-17 in points off turnovers as well as 10-2 on second-chance points. The Knights did out-rebound the Wildcats on the offensive end, 10-7, but it was not enough to overtake the Wildcats.

Tucker tallied his 42nd career double-digit scoring game and had a team-high nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Furlin finished the game with 12 points and two steals, while Fiely finished with 11 point and five rebounds. Junior Tyler Kleinschmidt (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) added three assists for the Knights.

Marian University remains at home as Goshen College, another team receiving votes in the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Coaches' Poll, comes to the Physical Education Center on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m., and the game will air LIVE on XL 950 AM (WXLW) beginning at 2:50 p.m. Brad wochomurka (p-b-p) and Joe Haklin (color) will call all the action. The game will also be aired LIVE and will feature LIVE STATISTICS at www.muknights.com.