FOND DU LAC, Wis. -- The Lawrence University men's basketball team battled back for three-quarters of the game Tuesday before Marian University finally pulled away for an 83-73 nonconference victory at Sadoff Gymnasium.
    The Vikings trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half before cutting the margin to two at the break. Marian put together a decisive 10-0 run midway through the second half and didn't allow Lawrence to get close for the remainder of the contest.
    Adnan Sarancic led four Lawrence players in double figures with 16 points, and he added seven rebounds. Elliot Jung added 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and a block for the Vikings (5-6). 
    Johnny Semany added 12 points and Matthew Kaznikov chipped in with 10 points for Lawrence. Parker Prahl had eight points for the Vikings to go with a team-high 10 rebounds.
    The Sabres jumped out to a 27-12 lead with 11:19 left in the opening half before the Vikings began battling back. Lawrence went on a quick 9-3 burst, capped by Sarancic's 3-pointer, to cut the lead to 30-21 with 9:07 left in the opening half.
    The Vikings were down 32-21 but outscored Marian 17-8 over the final 7:12 of the first half. Prahl scored five points during that stretch with Sarancic and Jung adding three points apiece. Nick Hesch's layup with four seconds left trimmed the margin to 40-38 at the break.
    Lawrence would trail by as many as seven points early in the second half, and the Vikings were still down six at 55-49 when they edged closer. Ryne Panzer's layup, followed by a trio of free throws, the last two by Kaznikov, closed the Vikings to 55-54 with 10:42 left. 
    Marian then scored the game's next 10 points to stretch the lead back to 65-54 with 7:11 remaining. The Vikings closed back to six after Semany's floater and a 3-pointer from Nicolas Manzanera cut the lead to 65-59. The Sabres countered with five straight points of their own, and the Vikings never got closer than eight points the rest of the way. 
    Josh Nicklaus had a double-double for Marian (4-4) with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
    Lawrence returns to action on Wednesday when the Vikings travel to NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University for an exhibition game.