Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – It was far from pretty and at times it was downright ugly but to Ben Cusick and his senior teammates the Spartans’ win over WAMAC East Division rival Marion on Tuesday was beautiful sight.

Cusick had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds and David Bluder snapped a tie game with a free throw with 2.2 seconds left as Solon snapped a four-game losing skid to Marion with a 49-48 win in Solon.

“Last year we lost them twice in very close games and it was huge to get this one especially for us seniors,” Cusick said. “It was hard but we got it done and we are happy about that.”

Solon (4-1) overcame a seven-point first-quarter deficit, battled through a rough shooting night and held off a late Marion surge while winning its fourth consecutive game.

The Spartans shot 37 percent from the floor and matched its season-low with three 3-pointers but more than made up for its offensive ineffectiveness on the defensive end.

Solon held a Marion team that entered averaging 77.5 points per game to a season-low scoring output on just 31 percent shooting from the floor.

“We told our guys at the start of the year there will be nights where we don’t shoot the ball well but we are always going to fall back on our defense, we are always going to guard and that will keep us in the game,” Solon coach Jared Galpin said. “We got enough stops tonight and got a lead and just kind of hung on.”

Solon trailed 17-10 after one quarter but used an 11-2 run to start the second to go into halftime tied at 21.

A 6-0 burst in the third quarter gave Solon a 31-27 lead and the Spartans would never trail again.

Marion twice drew even in the final 90 seconds on 3-pointers by Gage Franck and then Cael Hodges who tied the game at 48 all with 12 seconds left.

Bluder made up for his own tough shooting night by sinking the first of two free throws with 2.2 seconds left to break the 48-all tie.

“We honestly didn’t shoot the ball well from anywhere on the floor tonight,” Galpin said. “Free throws, perimeter, in the lane, anywhere but we fell back on our defense. We guarded.”

In addition to its cool shooting from the field Solon was just 10-of-22 from the free throw line but Cusick and Bluder combined to hit 4-of-6 in the final 31 seconds to secure the win.

“We rep that in practice with end of game situations and we practice free throws every day,” Cusick said. “When they really mattered we were able to get them in there.”

Junior Kinnick Pusteoska had 13 points to lead three players in double figures but it was the Solon seniors that came up big late.

Bluder had six of his 11 points in the final quarter and Cusick had four points and six rebounds in the fourth, including a pair of big offensive rebounds.

“It was a really good team win,” Cusick said. “I’m happy we finally did this against Marion. They are a really good team so it’s really eye-opening for us.”

Last season this was the type of game Solon couldn’t put away.

The Spartans lost seven games by seven or few points during a 7-15 season a year ago, including five two-point losses.

Two of those tight losses came to Marion including a two-point loss at Solon.

“These seniors have been through it,” Galpin said. “Some of these guys have been playing varsity ball for three years and last year they took some lumps, they lost close games like this, but they are seniors and now they are coming out the other end of it.”

Brayson Laube led Marion with 16 points, 11 of which came in the opening quarter. Franck had 10 points and Hodges added nine for the Indians.

Carson Shive had eight points for Solon.

Marion           17   4    8   19  –  48

Solon              10  11  12  16  –  49

Marion (48) – Brayson Laube 4-12 4-6 16, Cael Hodges 2-8 5-7 9, Alex Mota 1-5 0-2 2, Lucas Unsen 2-5 2-2 6, Gage Franck 4-11 0-0 10, Boede Rahe 1-1 0-0 2, Jackson Kirsch 0-3 1-2 1, Garret Wagner 1-3 0-0 2, Totals 15-48 12-19 48.

Solon (49) – Jake Quillin 1-6 0-0 2, Will Noonan 1-3 0-0 3, Kinnick Pusteoska 6-6 1-4 13, Carson Shive 3-9 1-4 8, Ben Cusick 3-7 4-6 10, David Bluder 4-14 2-6 11, Bo Janssen 0-2 2-2 2, Drew Turner 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 18-49 10-22 49.

3-point field goals – SOL 3-17 (Quillin 0-4, Noonan 1-2, Shive 1-3, Bluder 1-6, Janssen 0-2), MAR 6-21 (Laube 4-10, Hodges 0-4, Mota 0-1, Franck 2-5, Kirsch 0-1). Rebounds – SOL 37 (Cusick 14), MAR 40 (Unsen 8). Turnovers – SOL 12, MAR 15. Total fouls – SOL 19, MAR 20. Fouled out – MAR (Mota). Technical fouls – None.

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