Junior Jackson Smith poured in a career-high 41 points to pace the Dominican University men's basketball team to a 70-61 win over the Marian University Sabres on Tuesday night at the Igini Sports Forum.  The win pushes the Stars to 7-5 on the season and 3-4 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) with a River Forest Rivalry Cup matchup with the Concordia University Chicago Cougars on deck for Saturday afternoon at Dominican.
 
Smith shot an impressive 13-for-19 from the field, including 5-for-8 from three, while going 10-for-11 at the free throw line.  After Dominican trailed 34-27 at the break, Smith scored 26 points in the second half, going 7-for-10 from the field and connecting on all three of his attempts from beyond the three-point stripe.
 
As a team, the Stars outscored the Sabres 43-27 in the second half, limiting Marian to just ten second half field goals and out-rebounding the visitors 25-14 over the game's final 20 minutes.
 
"We really picked up our defensive intensity in the second half and Jackson [Smith] was outstanding the entire game."
 
Marian managed to build a seven-point, 34-27, lead behind DeAndre Ross's 19-point first half.  It was a Ross layup in the final five seconds of the half that equaled the largest lead in the first half.  Ross shot 7-for-9 in the opening period, including 3-for-4 from three, off the Sabres's bench as Marian shot an even 50-percent, 12-for-24, in the first half.
 
Marian managed to extend the lead to eight in the first three minutes of the second period before the Stars used a quick 5-0 run, capped by a Smith three on the break to trim the lead down to 40-37 with 15:00 minutes to play.  After a pair of Sabre free throws, Dominican got back to work evening the score at 42-42 when Smith buried another three before senior Nick Lavere finished a layup in transition.
 
The Sabres managed to build their lead back to five, 51-46 with just 9:30 to go before a 10-0 spurt for the Stars that saw Smith score eight points in a 3:35 span to give the Stars a 56-51 lead with 5:26 to go.
 
Marian managed to keep the game within two possessions until the Stars scored nine of the game's final 11 points to put the win on ice.
 
Smith was the only Star to finish in double-figures with Luke McDermott finishing with eight and Dennis Handy adding seven.  Dylan Anderson scored five points off the bench, knocking down a three after pulling down an offensive rebound in the final thirty seconds of the game.
 
For the Sabres, Ross finished with a team-high 26 points off the bench, scoring just six after halftime. Logan Hamilton added nine also off the Marian bench as Marian's subs combined for 41 of the team's 61 points.