"After our previous four games (all losses), it was nice to come out and breath a little easier, that's for sure," coach Rex Ostmeyer said.

Poor shooting by Sterling, caused by an effective Warrior defense, combined with accurate shooting by Marion put the game out of reach early.

Marion led 13-8 after one quarter and 33-14 by halftime.

Ostmeyer said his game plan was to push the pace of the game.

"We just decided going into the game that we were going to increase our levels of pressure on defense and press both man and zone full court," he said.

The game didn't get any better for the Black Bears (1-19) in the second half as Marion outscored the visitors, 23-9.

The Warriors forced 22 Sterling turnovers that led to 26 points.

The Warriors were led by Jason Hett with 13 points and Nick Carlson with 11.

In all, 10 Warriors dented the scoring column.

"The increased defense and our balanced scoring from top to bottom were really good," he said. "We had 10 guys score and Dale (Vogel) was in foul trouble and wasn't really a factor.

"We kind of cruised through the second half and got to play a lot of guys."

Marion hit 25 of 56 shots from the field (45 percent), including three of 11 (27 percent) from beyond the 3-point line.

Sterling, meanwhile, made just nine of 33 shots (27 percent), including two of 11 (18 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.

Both teams were ineffective from the foul line; Sterling was 3-for-7 and Marion was 3-for-6.

Marion won the rebounding battle 33-27; Vogel pulled down five but battled foul trouble.

"We need to get Dale's confidence back after all the offensive fouls he's gotten in the last few games," Ostmeyer said. "He's thinking too much about that and not reacting."

With the victory, Marion improved to 8-12 overall and 4-7 in MCAA play.

"It's nice to finish with a win and it helps put some bounce in our step at sub-state practices," Ostmeyer said. "I think we feel pretty good. We're all 0-0 now and heading to Halstead, we'll see if we can make some noise.

"We'll just have to see what happens."

The Warriors were to play their open round on Tuesday. If they won, they will play the winner of the Hesston and Medicine Lodge game on Friday. Game time in Lyons will be announced following Monday's game.