Marian University men’s basketball (16-7, 9-7 NACC) earned a crucial win for its postseason hopes defeating Rockford 81-56 on the road.
 

• The game opened with a 13-10 Marian lead before a small 10-2 run saw Rockford lead by five.
• The Regents brought their lead out to 21-18 before Marian went on a 24-5 run to lead 42-26 and 2:11 until halftime.
• There was only one Rockford bucket the rest of the half to put the score at 42-28 going into the break.
• The Sabres dominated the opening minutes of the second half using an 11-2 spurt to lead 53-30 and draw a Rockford timeout.
• After bringing the lad out to 60-35, Marian used a 15-6 spurt to build its lead to as large as 34 points.
• The Regenets were able to chip away at the deficit in the final minutes to put the final at 81-56.

• Marian shot 29-of-55 (.527) from the field and 10-of-20 (.500) from beyond the arc.
• Defensively, the Sabres held Rockford to 18-of-50 (.360) shooting and 5-of-20 (.250) on triples.
• Marian forced 15 Regent turnovers and outscored Rockford 22-9 in points off turnovers.
• The Sabres also finished with a 36-22 edge for points in the paint.
• Marian enters the final week of the regular season fifth in the NACC standings.
• The Sabres are now 18-19 all-time against Rockford having won four of the last five games.

	Junior Alex Vassilakis scored a season-high 18 points and had seven boards.
	Sophomore Sam Gingras chipped in 14 points to go with four assists.
	Sophomore Andrew Ayeni narrowly missed a double-double scoring 13 points with nine boards, three assists, and two steals.