Men’s Basketball Edged by Indiana Tech, 86-72

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Down by as many as 16 points early in the second half, the Marygrove men’s basketball team (2-23; 1-16 WHAC) cut the Indiana Tech (15-10; 10-7 WHAC) lead down to five before the host Warriors pulled away late to win, 86-72, Thursday (Feb. 6) inside the Schaefer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) game was played a day later than originally scheduled after a winter storm postponed play for 24 hours.

The Warriors raced out to an early 11-2 lead over the first three minutes of action before the Mustangs pulled to within two, 17-15, with 12:31 to play in the first half behind a Diante Taylor (Battle Creek, Mich./Central) old fashioned three-point play. After making it a one-possession game, the Mustangs saw the Warriors regain their nine-point advantage with 2:34 remaining in the first half behind a Rontray Chavis dunk to make it 39-30.

Both teams would exchange free throws and a basket over the final minutes of the first half as the Mustangs trailed by nine at the break, 42-33.

Much like their previous contests, the Mustangs had a second half comeback in them as they pulled to within five, 63-58, with 8:12 remaining in the ball game. From there, the host Warriors would finish the game on a 23-14 run to hand the Mustangs their 16th conference loss of the 2013-14 campaign.

A 40% (32-of-80) shooting night for the Mustangs compared to a near 60% (34-of-57) performance for the basket-attacking Warriors was the difference in Thursday’s conference contest.

The Mustangs were balanced with five reaching double figures. JuJuan Armstrong (Detroit, Mich./UM-Dearborn) poured in a team-high 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Armstrong was followed in double figures scoring with 14 from Darryll Dixon (Flint, Mich./Hamady), while Taylor, Xavier Walker (Flint, Mich./Powers Catholic) and DeVonte Pryor (Pontiac, Mich./West Texas A&M) added 13, 11 and 10 points respectively. Pryor added a team-high six assists to go along with his 10-point effort.

Chavis paced Indiana Tech’s offense with a game-high 30 points and 19 rebounds.

The Mustangs will return home to Detroit’s Northwest Activities Center Saturday (Feb. 8) for a 3 p.m. tipoff against WHAC counterpart Lourdes University. Saturday’s game can be heard live on the Mustang Sports Network 30 minutes after the women’s game goes final.

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