LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- An early surge from Beloit College was enough to decide things at Maranatha tonight, as the Buccaneers took home an 80-65 win after a strong second half from the Sabercats.

Caleb Moultrie led the Sabercats with 15 points and Justus Morrison marked his return to action with a career-high 10 points. All told, the Sabercats had four players in double figures and will

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 65-80 Beloit
• Venue: MBU Gymnasium - Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance:
• Records: MBU (4-16), BC (14-8)

STORY
The Sabercats kept a tidier performance in terms of their possession for the most part. But Beloit's up-tempo offense and quick ball movement was too hard for the Sabercats to deal with, as Beloit out-shot and out-possessed the Sabercats en route to a 40-24 lead after the opening act.

Maranatha had difficulty coming up with an answer for Azeez Ganiyu, who led the Bucs with 15 points in the first half on 6-8 shooting. The Bucs were unusually balanced in the first half, with eight players entering the locker room with two points apiece.

The second half was cleaner all around for Maranatha, who limited their turnovers to four while shooting almost 50 percent from the field. Justus Morrison got back into his first game since January 23rd and hit all three shots he looked at - all from downtown. Noah Jensen came off the bench to score a dozen points, and Moultrie was the first Sabercat to break into double-digits, ultimately leading the Sabercats with 15 points. After it was all said and done, the Sabercats won the second half 41-40 and finished with four players in double digits. But the second-half push wasn't enough for the Sabercats, as they ended with a 65-80 deficit after the strong start for the Bucs.

Ganiyu continued to be the danger man for Beloit, as the powerful forward led everyone with 22 points on the night. The Bucs went 10 players deep into their bench, and every man in Beloit colors eventually contributed at least two points. 

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Maranatha Starters: 2-Cox, 21-Moultrie, 24-Gingery, 33-Mertes, 44- Cashner

STATS

• MBU: shot 41.5 percent from the field
• BC: shot 41.7 percent from the field
• Morrison: career-high 10 points
• Last time: Maranatha fell to 51-72 to Beloit on Nov. 18, 2022
• Series: Maranatha trails the all-time series against Beloit 1-4

OPPONENTS

• Beloit competes in the Midwest Conference (NCAA Dlll)
• Beloit finished the '22-23 season with an 7-18 record
• Beloit is currently third in the MWC standings

NEXT

The Sabercats stay in Watertown to face Kuyper in a NCCAA Midwest match on Saturday at 4 p.m. for parent's day. This will be Maranatha's final home game of the season. Follow at mbusabercats.com/schedule.