GOSHEN, Ind. — Ryan Mansbarger knocked down six 3-pointers in 38 minutes Saturday afternoon and the Goshen College men's basketball team pushed NAIA 18th-ranked Marian University to the limit in Ruth Gunden Gymnasium, leading the game into the final six minutes before falling 80-73 in Crossroads League competition.
Tahj Curry scored 19 points and distributed 9 assists, coming within one dime of his fifth career double-double in 39 minutes. He added a pair of 3-pointers and shot 6-of-12 from the floor as Goshen hit on 60 percent of its shots and 53 percent of its 3-pointers.
Robert Sanders added a 6-for-6 showing at the foul line on his way to 10 points.
Marian (14-4, 9-4), which finished the game on an 18-5 run, got 27 points and 8 rebounds from Cameron Wolter to lead the team in both categories. Christian Stewart added 18 points while Luke Heady and Malek Edmonds each contributed 10 off the bench.
A 10-0 Goshen run put the Maple Leafs up 16-8 six and a half minutes into the game before Marian responded with a 7-2 spurt to pull back in front at 21-20. Heady's 3-pointer quadrupled the lead to 34-30 with 4:30 left in the half.
The teams would trade empty possessions and then free throws before a Curry triple brought Goshen back within a point at 37-36, and that one-point margin held through halftime when it was 43-42.
Marian scored the first seven points out of the intermission, prompting a Goshen timeout less than a minute into the second half, before Goshen put together its own 7-0 run capped by two Quincy Mussio buckets that got them to 54-53 with 15:02 remaining.
A Curry bucket tied the score at 60 at the 12:09 mark before Mansbarger put Goshen in front with a 3-pointer 58 seconds later. Another Mansbarger triple and a Curry field goal made it 68-62 Maple Leafs with 8:24 left as the run reached 12-2 over the previous 4:42.
Unfortunately for Goshen, the Knights had one more run in them. Stewart sank a 3 at 5:43 to put Marian ahead and the visitors never trailed again. He extended the lead to three points at 4:58 before neither team made a field goal for 2½ minutes. Wolter added two free throws in that span, though, and Marian went up 75-68 inside the final 90 seconds.
Curry added 5 points down the stretch as Marian went 5-of-6 at the foul line to salt the game away.
The Knights shot 48 percent overall and 29 percent from long range but outrebounded Goshen 28-22, forced 16 turnovers and had a 23-13 edge at the foul line.
After a scheduled open date to facilitate COVID-19 rescheduling, Goshen plays its next game next Saturday against the Cougars of Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Tip-off is again set for 1 p.m. in Ruth Gunden Gymnasium.
