APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team saw its chance for victory slip away in the final minutes Saturday, and Marian University held on for a 91-81 nonconference win at Alexander Gymnasium.
    Marian outscored the Vikings 14-5 over the final 4:29 to win the season opener for both teams.    
    Brandon Danowski paced Lawrence with 19 points, and he grabbed six rebounds. Kyle Lillwitz scored 16 points for Lawrence in his collegiate debut and hit a game-high four 3-pointers. Brad Sendell added 13 points, and Adnan Sarancic had 11 points for the Vikings.
    Tyler Gouin led Marian with 42 points as he went 16-for-22 from the floor.
    Lawrence led by as many as eight points at 62-54 with 13:18 left in the second half. Marian immediately rallied and grabbed a 64-63 lead with 10:44 remaining.
    The Sabres led by as many as six points after that, but Danowski scored five consecutive points to trim the lead to 77-76 with 4:39 remaining. Lawrence was down 82-79 after a Danowski layup, but Ben Basten hit a 3-pointer from the corner to push the lead to 85-79.
    Three consecutive misses by the Vikings proved to be the difference as Marian hit six consecutive free throws down the stretch to pull away.