NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College men's basketball team dropped its Sunday game against Marian 69-64.

MLC built a 17-14 lead after 10 minutes, but fell into a six-minute offensive drought in which it scored only one field goal as the Sabres took a 35-33 lead into the half.

The Knights erased the halftime deficit early in the second half and took a five-point lead (61-56) following a Jonathan Riebe lay-up with 2:57 to play, but went cold once again down the stretch as Marian out-scored them 13-3 the rest of the way to secure the win.

Both teams struggled to find offense throughout the game. MLC shot 43.1 percent from the field, but struggled from the outside to shoot 5-19 from beyond the three-point arc. While the Sabres shot just 34.4 percent overall, they out-scored MLC 19-9 at the free throw line and also took advantage of 15 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points.

Riebe came up big for the Knights off the bench and led the team with 15 points on 7-10 shooting. He scored 11 of the Knights' final 14 points in the last eight minutes of the contest.

Austin DeNoyer also had a strong night with 11 points and making three of four attempts from three-point range. Jack Heichelbech added 10 points, while Ian Paulsen finished with three blocked shots. 

MLC fell to 2-6 on the season in defeat. Marian improved to 2-8 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Tuesday, December 17, when they host Wisconsin Lutheran College for a game scheduled to tip off at 5:30 p.m.