INDIANAPOLIS - What a way to end the regular season. The Marian University men's basketball team earned the seventh seed for the 2010 MCC Tournament after they pulled out a 77-75 overtime victory over Huntington University at the Physical Education Center on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Alex Sylvester (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) led three Knights in double figures with a game- and career-high 29 points, 17 in the first half, on 9-of-21 shooting including 6-of-8 from three-point range. It was his 20th double-digit game of the season and eighth with 20 or more points.

Huntington jumped out to an early seven-point lead over the first eight minutes before the Knights cut the gap back to one at 15-14 with 9:14 to go in the half. The Knights tied the game at 22-22 with 5:10 to go, but the teams went back-and-forth over the next three minutes. With the Foresters leading 28-27 and 2:52 on the clock, the Knights went on a 9-1 run, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by junior Anthony Furlin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and freshman Mac Fiely (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville), that sent the Knights into the locker room with a 36-29 lead.

MU shot 45 percent (13-of-29) from the field in the first 20 minutes, but hit a red-hot 69 percent (9-of-13) from long range. The Knights held the Foresters to just 33 percent (9-of-27) from the field in the half and just 2-of-7 from three-point land.

HU opened the second frame with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one before Furlin buried a three to push the lead back to four at 39-35 with 18:06 to go. HU cut it back to two at 41-39 with 16:27 to go before the Knights embarked on an 8-0 run to take a 10-point lead at 49-39 with 14:04 to go. Three-pointers by junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) and Furlin capped off the run as the Knights looked to hang on.

The lead eventually increased to as high as 13 at 59-46 with 7:27 remaining before the Foresters were able to cut it back to seven, 59-52, with 5:31 to go. Junior Brandon Malone (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) hit a layup with 4:49 to go to give MU a nine-point lead, 61-52, but it was the last time in regulation that the Knights would hit from the field.

With MU leading 64-54 and 4:21 on the clock, HU went on an 11-0 run to take a 65-64 lead with just 12 ticks left on the clock. A late foul allowed Sylvester to go to the line for a pair with six seconds remaining. He missed the first, but hit the second to tie the score. A last-second three-point attempt went begging for Huntington and sent the game into overtime.

Sylvester opened the extra frame with a three, but HU answered with a pair of free throws and a pair of layups to take a 71-68 lead with 2:51 to go. A pair of Malone freebies cut the gap to one, 71-70, but an HU free throw put the Foresters up a pair at 72-70 with 2:00 remaining. A Sylvester layup, with 1:27 to go, tied the score. Junior Matt Allee (Greenwood, Ind./Greenwood) split his free throws with 1:06 to go and enabled an HU tip-in to give the Foresters a 74-73 lead with 48 ticks left. However, Sylvester hit a jumper with 20 seconds on the clock to give MU a 75-74 lead. The Foresters would miss a chance in the paint with nine seconds left and Sylvester hit a pair to put the Knights up by three, 77-74, with five seconds to go.

The Knights committed a foul with one second on the clock and a three-point lead. After hitting the first, the second was an intentional miss that ended up as a turnover due to a lane violation. The Knights just threw the inbounds pass long and finished off the 77-75 victory to snap an eight-game losing skid to the Foresters.

Marian endured a 17-1 deficit in second-chance points, a 52-39 deficit in rebounds, but benefitted from 14 three-pointers. The Knights hit just 28 percent in the second half (8-of-29), but shot 50 percent (3-of-6) in the overtime session to earn the victory. They were able to capitalize on 20 HU turnovers for 17 points in the win.

Furlin hit for 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-6 from three-point land, while Tucker finished with 10 points. Malone only scored four points, but dished out a game-high six assists and had a game-high four steals. Freshman Matt Dickerson (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) had a team-high nine rebounds.

The Knights finished the campaign with a 13-14 overall record, its best since the 2004-05 season, and a 5-11 MCC mark, which is the best since the 2005-06 season.

The Knights, by virtue of the tiebreaker, own the seven seed for the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament. They will head to No. 2-seeded Bethel College on Wednesday night for the MCC Tournament first round. The game will tip-off at 7 p.m. and will air LIVE at www.muknights.com.