FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) became the 30th Knight in the 55-year history of Marian University men's basketball to score 1,000 points as the Marian University men's basketball team battled the No. 6-ranked University of Saint Francis Cougars in a 72-69 defeat on Saturday afternoon at the Hutzell Athletic Center  in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Tucker tallied 11 points, his and had four rebounds for the Knights. He now has 1,005 points in his career. He surpassed the mark with 9:19 left in the first half to give the Knights a 19-16 lead. The double-digit game was the 46th of his career and 17th of the season.

Not to be outdone, freshman Matt Dickerson (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) had a career afternoon as he tallied his first career double-double. The Evansville, Ind., native scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in leading four Knights in double figures.

The Knights jumped out to an 8-2 lead over the first 4:03, but USF stormed back and tied the score, 11-11, with 13:05 to go in the first half. The teams traded the lead before a three-pointer knotted the score at 19-19 with 8:16 remaining in the frame. After seven ties and five lead changes, the Cougars went into the locker room with a 30-28 lead.

MU stayed with the Cougars throughout the first half despite shooting just 33 percent (9-of-27) compared to 48 percent (12-of-25) for USF. The Knights forced the Cougars into committing 14 turnovers in the first half while committing just seven themselves.

USF pushed the lead to six early in the second stanza before the Knights fought back to take a 45-44 lead with 11:58 remaining. USF regained the lead before the teams went back-and-forth over the next two minutes. The two-minute span featured three ties and two three lead changes as sophomore Alex Sylvester (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) tied the score, 54-54, with 9:27 remaining.

A USF fast-break layup gave the Cougars the lead for what proved to the the final time at the 8:25 mark. They pushed the lead to as high as seven, the highest of the game, and held off a Knights comeback to earn a hard-fought 72-69 victory.

The Knights were out-rebounded by a 45-33 margin for the game.

Sylvester finished with 11 points, while junior Brandon Malone (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) tallied 13 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out a game-high four assists, and had a team-high three steals.

The Knights return to the Physical Education Center for a massive Mid-Central College Conference showdown with the Taylor University Trojans on Tuesday night. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. with the game airing LIVE on XL 950AM (WXLW) with Brad Wochomurka (p-b-p) and Director of Athletics Joe Haklin (color) calling all the action.

The game will be simulcast at www.muknights.com and LIVE STATISTICS will be available at www.muknights.com.