GOSHEN, Ind. — Alhassan Barrie scored 16 first-half points and finished one rebound away from a double-double, but the shooting of the NAIA's eighth-ranked team proved too much for the Goshen College men's basketball team to overcome in an 82-68 Crossroads League loss to Spring Arbor University on Saturday in Gunden Gymnasium.

The Maple Leafs (6-16, 0-10) forced 9 first-half turnovers and used the strength of an early 15-3 run to lead for most of the first half, but the Cougars (19-3, 9-1) shot 55 percent from the floor and made 27 free throws in the road victory.

Austin Branagan scored 11 points off the bench for GC and Colton Noel added 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting despite being limited to 7 minutes because of foul trouble. Barrie played a game-high 38 minutes, going 9-of-15 from the floor, and Eli Gingerich added a pair of 3-pointers in his return to the lineup.

Paul Marandet scored a game-high 23 points for Spring Arbor, combining a 5-for-6 mark from the floor with 12 makes on 13 foul shots, and also led all players with 6 assists. Jeff Beckman added 17 points and 8 rebounds while going 9-for-10 at the stripe.

Goshen shot 59 percent (17-for-29) in the first half, including a 75 percent conversion mark on two-point attempts. Carter Boos added 9 points in the half, including a game-tying score with 13 seconds to play before Tyler Kaminski's bucket put the visitors up 43-41 at halftime.

Marandet scored 12 straight Cougar points before the go-ahead tally and the Cougars shot 15-of-16 at the foul line after Goshen's defense held them to 13 points in the opening 10 minutes.

Noel put Goshen back on the scoreboard with an old-fashioned 3-point play 11 seconds after halftime, giving Goshen a 44-43 lead, but the Cougars scored six times before the Maple Leafs put the biscuit in the basket again from the floor. By the middle of the half, SAU led 63-48 as six visiting players scored in the proverbial third quarter.

Branagan scored Goshen's next four points and Ryan Mansbarger added a second-half triple, cutting the lead to 12 with 4:28 remaining after his first career start, but Spring Arbor's lead would remain in double figures the rest of the way.

The Cougars made 52 percent of their second-half field goals (12-for-23) while holding Goshen to an 8-for-30 clip. Each team shot better than 80 percent at the foul line after halftime: Spring Arbor was 12-for-15 and Goshen 9-for-11. SAU finished with more rebounds, 19-10, in the second half, but also turned the ball over 9 times.

For the game, Goshen had a 17-6 edge in points off turnovers and gave the ball away a season-low 7 times. Branagan led the team with 3 assists and Boos' game-high 2 steals matched SAU's team total.

Goshen plays its final home game of the month on Wednesday as the Maple Leafs take on a third straight ranked opponent in no. 16 Bethel College. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in Gunden Gymnasium following a women's game at 6:00.