LEAD

WATERTOWN, Wis. -- This one got away from the Sabercats, who were handed their heaviest home defeat of the season tonight.

Stephen Wilkerson notched 26 points on the night, but after a good start, it was an uphill battle the whole way for the Blue and Gold.

OVERVIEW

• Result: Maranatha 64-86 Holy Family
• Venue: Maranatha Baptist University
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 208
• Record: MBU (10-11), HFC (13-16)

STORY

The Sabercats began with an emphatic opening statement, as they limited Holy Family to six points while putting up 13 of their own. The Sabercats were heading for another big turnaround like they posted on Tuesday night.

But the Lakers had other ideas. After calling a timeout, the visitors went on a 13-0 run to turn the momentum in the other direction, and they carried that into the halftime break, leading 42-29. One thing that separated the two teams at the break was a 40-percent difference in three-point shooting. The Lakers went 8-of-14 while the Sabercats only hit two of their 13 attempts.

The second half yielded a very similar scoreline to the first, as the Lakers continued their stretch of precise shooting from downtown. Just as the Sabercats seemed to be catching momentum, Holy Family would nail a three to rain on the parade.

Throughout the second half, the Lakers extended their lead more and more, eventually leading by 22 points (their largest lead of the night) with less than a minute left.

It was all about the Lakers in the closing stretch, as they outshot, out-rebounded, and outplayed MBU to take home the 22-point win. 

--

MBU Starters: 2- Ball, 3- Mayhak, 4- Steuerwald 5- Sanders, 23- Wilkerson 

STATS

• Wilkerson: 26 PTS, 7 REB
• Ball: 14 PTS, 4 REB
• Sanders: 9 PTS, 6 REB
• MBU: Shot 33 percent in the first half; 49 percent in the second
• Last year: The Lakers won 84-68 at home in January
• Series: Holy Family now leads the all-time series 7-4

OPPONENTS

• Holy Family competes in the NAIA DII as an independent
• Holy Family finished last season with a record of 10-19

NEXT

The Sabercats will host Martin Luther College on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. in the final regular-season game of 2019-20. Find details at mbusabercats.com/schedule.