Box Score The Dominican University men’s basketball team erased a 19-point halftime deficit, as Anthony Keener (Carol Stream, Ill.) scored 18 in the second half to lead the Stars past the visiting Marian University Sabres 65-64 in River Forest on Saturday evening.
 
After giving the Stars their first and only lead of the game with a pair of free throws with just nine seconds to play, the 5’11 Keener then swatted Alex Stecker’s jumper from the free throw line to preserve the win for Dominican.
 
Shooting a dismal 21-percent from the field in the first half (6-for-28), Dominican found itself trailing the Sabres 38-19 at the break as the Sabres shot at a blistering 54-percent from the field (13-for-24), going 5-for-6 from three-point distance.
 
The tides started to turn on Dominican’s first possession of the second frame as Kevin Tiongson (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) connected on a three from the top of the key to spark the Stars’ offense.
 
After a Mike Kelly jumper for the Sabres, Keener knocked down a pair of free throws for the Stars ahead of a Logan Harris (Pleasant Plains, Ill.) layup that cut the Sabres’ down to 40-26 with 18:11 to play.
 
A Sabre 4-0 run was stopped by a Keener three, as the Stars’ sophomore guard scored 18 in the second half comeback.  Harris followed that with another basket in the paint to trim the Marian lead to 44-31 with just over 15:30 to play.
 
Drew Binversie stopped the Stars’ momentum momentarily as he knocked down a three, but Keener raced up the floor, going coast-to-coast to start an 14-point run for the Stars that featured back-to-back-to-back three’s from freshman Ryan Risley (Oak Lawn, Ill.).  The Stars’ freshman guard scored nine points in a span of 3:45 to cut the Sabres’ lead to 47-42 before Kyle Sherwin (White Lake, Mich.) knocked down a three of his own to trim the lead to two.
 
The Sabres responded with their own 5-0 run to slow the Stars’ comeback as Rashad Wahab knocked down a three ahead of a jumper from Cody Veleke with 9:39 to play that extended the Sabres’ lead to 52-49.
 
Still trailing by seven with under 4:30 to play, Sherwin dropped in a three in transition for the Stars to pull the Stars within 56-52.  Two possessions later, a layup by Keener pulled the Stars to within two again but as they had done all half, the Sabres answered with a Binversie three with 2:49 to play.
 
After Harris knocked down the back-end of two shots at the foul line, a Binversie had the Sabres back up by six, 61-55, with 2:33 to play.
 
After Keener knocked down his second three of the half, the Sabres answered again, this time Sam Koslowski connecting from long range to push Marian’s lead back to six with 1:32 remaining.
 
After Sherwin knocked down a pair of free throws, the Stars’ forced a Marian turnover before Keener went to work, weaving his way into the lane for a layup to again pull the Stars within two, 64-62, with 0:52 left in the second period.
 
Mike Keller missed the front-end of a one-and-one for the Sabres while Taylor DeRoo (Holland, Mich.) converted on one of two from the charity stripe for the Stars with 0:35 seconds left to play to set the stage for Keener’s late-game heroics.
 
Keener finished with a game-high 21 points to pace the Stars while Sherwin chipped in 15 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
 
The win improves the Stars to 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) while dropping Marian to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in conference play.  Dominican will return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Lisle to take on the Benedictine University in a NAC South Division matchup.  Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m.