MISHAWAKA, Ind. - The Marian University men's basketball team closed the 2009-10 season on Wednesday night as the No. 10-ranked and second-seeded Bethel College Pilots used their run-and-gun offense to defeat the Knights, 89-57, at the Wiekamp Center in Mishawaka, Ind., in the opening round of the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament.

Junior Jordan Tucker (Kirklin, Ind./Clinton Central) led two Knights in double figures with a game-high 15 points as MU finished the 2009-10 season with a 13-15 overall record, its best since the 2004-05 season.

The Knights stayed with the Pilots for the first nine minutes of the game, but, with the score 11-10 and 10:56 remaining, the Pilots out-scored the Knights 29-11 over the final 11 minutes of the half to take a 19-point lead, 40-21, into the locker room.

MU shot just 27 percent (8-of-30) from the field, while Bethel finished 18-of-36 (50 percent) from the field. The Pilots also out-rebounded the Knights by a 28-13 margin in the first 20 minutes.

After BC pushed the lead to 23 with 17:22 to go, a three-pointer from junior Brandon Malone (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) cut the gap back to 20 at 46-26. However, an 8-0 Bethel run opened the lead to 28 at 54-26 with 13:59 to go. The Knights had no answer to Bethel as for every bucket made, the MU defense could not stop the Pilots. The lead eventually ballooned to 35 before the Pilots settled for the 89-57 victory.

While the Knights' shooting improved to 44 percent (11-of-25) in the second half, Bethel also improved its shooting to 59 percent (19-of-32) and finished with a 52-20 edge in rebounding. BC out-rebounded the Knights by a 16-4 margin on the offensive end. Marian also shot just 26 percent (5-of-19) from three-point range.

Junior Anthony Furlin (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) finished with 14 points, while Tucker and sophomore Alex Sylvester (Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian) each finished with a team-high four rebounds.

The 2009-10 season was the best since the 2004-05 campaign when the Knights finished 14-11 overall, and the MCC season was the best since 2005-06 when they went 5-11 in conference play.