INDIANAPOLIS - The Marian University men's basketball team pulled out a thrilling upset of the NAIA Division II No. 8-ranked Bethel College Pilots, 83-69, at the Physical Education Center on Tuesday night.

The win is their third straight as they improved to .500 at 12-12 on the season with the win. They are now 4-9 in the Mid-Central College Conference.

While junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) led the Knights with a game-high 26 points, freshman Matt Dickerson (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) had the greatest game in his short career. He tallied 23 points and grabbed four rebounds as four Knights scored in double figures in the upset win.

The Pilots jumped out to a 15-6 lead over the first 5:37, but the Knights clawed their way back with a 13-4 run to tie the score at 19-19 with 7:56 to go in the first half. Over the final eight minutes, the two teams exchanged the lead five times before junior Brandon Malone (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) sank a big three-pointer with 25 seconds to go in the half to send the Knights to the locker room with a 32-29 lead.

The Knights started slowly, but finished the half shooting 45 percent (14-of-31) from the field, while the Pilots shot just 37 percent (11-of-30) for the half. The Knights were out-rebounded by a 23-15 margin, but they carried the three-point lead at the intermission.

A quick 5-0 run to open the second half put the Knights up by eight, 37-29, with 18:36 to go. Bethel was able to cut the gap to three, 42-39, with 15:31 to go, but the Knights responded and pushed the lead to 10 at 52-42 with 12:34 remaining.

The lead grew to 13 at 57-44 with 10:09 to go, but an 8-0 Pilots run cut the lead to five at 57-52 with 8:46 remaining. The Knights responed with a 5-0 run to push it back to eight and Bethel could only get as close at six at 72-66 with 3:12 to go. MU was able to push the lead to 14 with free throws finishing off the 83-69 victory.

The Knights shot 52 percent (11-of-21) in the second half and finished at 48 percent (25-of-52) for the game. However, Bethel shot just 38 percent (23-of-61) from the field for the game, but out-rebounded the Knights by a 41-34 margin, including a 14-6 edge in offensive rebounds.

Malone finished the game with 10 points, a team-high nine boards, and a game-high seven assists. Sophomore Alex Sylvester (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) tallied 11 points, grabbed five boards, and dished out three assists. Tucker also finished with four steals in leading the Knights to the upset win.

Marian hits the road on Saturday to take on No. 5-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University at Luckey Arena in Marion, Ind. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.