The Maple Leafs turned a strong second half into their first Mid-Central College Conference victory of the season, defeating the visiting Marian University Knights 73-66 on Tuesday night.
Down only two points at halftime, the Leafs outscored the Knights 44-35 in the second half on 56 percent shooting, to finish the night at just over 48 percent. The Leafs were led by Geoffry Gilot, a sophomore guard, who scored a team-high of 12 points. Simon Szablicki, a senior, poured in 11 points of his own, while Sean Day, a sophomore forward, scored 10 and collected 10 rebounds. Nate Manning, a junior, Jeremy Pope, a senior, and Austin Hefley, a freshman, also had nine points each on the night.The Leafs defense was able to hold Marian to only 36.7% shooting from the floor and held Knights offensive leader Jordan Tucker to only 10 points on 3-15 shooting. The Leafs also had a 37-31 advantage over the Knights in rebounding for the game. The loss drops the Knights to 12-6 overall, and 3-5 in the MCC.
With the victory, the Leafs are now 8-13 overall and 1-7 in the MCC.
