Marshawn Cocroft never really got a chance to establish his presence with shots from the floor Wednesday night.

Instead, the Kaneland senior found his success from elsewhere — the free-throw line.

Cocroft had nine of his team-high 17 points come from the charity stripe, while also adding five rebounds and five assists to help the Knights get a 66-50 victory over Marmion on the road.

“We all knew that they were going to come at us and give us a shot,” Cocroft said. “We knew we had to be mentally strong and come out with a win.”

Cocroft’s success at the free-throw line spread to the rest of the Knights (7-0) in the contest. Kaneland finished the night going 18-of-21 from the line.

“It was nice to see guys sort of step up and hit those free throws, especially in the first half,” Knights coach Ernie Colombe said. “It was a physical game both ways, both teams played really hard. But it was a really good test for us. We overcame some stuff that we hadn’t faced so far.”

Kaneland’s success from the charity stripe was on full display in the first half, going a perfect 12-of-12 from the line, with Cocroft hitting all six of his attempts in the first quarter.

“We knew that they would try to play bully ball with us, so coach told us we had to be mentally strong,” said Cocroft, who made 9-of-11 chances on the night. “When we got the foul, we needed to make sure we finished there. Those early points matter towards the end of the game, and they ended up doing that.”

In the second half, the Knights focused on driving into the paint for the majority of their points, opening plenty of opportunities for junior Jeffery Hassan, who had 10 points in the final two frames

“I try to go out and have a good motor every game and just attack the ball and be a good teammate,” Hassan said. “I just thought I could do better heading into halftime.”

Hassan ended the night with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double. He also added three blocks on defense.

“He’s a great kid that works his tail off and has added a lot of good muscle,” Colombe said. “He’s a type of kid that you have to kick out of the gym. We’re lucky to have him.”

The 12 first-half free throws proved to be the difference heading into halftime, with the Knights taking a 33-22 lead into the break. And it was a deficit that proved to be too much for the Cadets (4-3) to come back from.

“They just got to the free-throw line quite a bit, and they did not miss those free throws,” Cadets coach Joe Piekarz said. “When the other team does that and takes advantage of those opportunities. It’s tough to come back from that.”

The Cadets did have a stretch in the third quarter that cut the lead to single digits. Senior Joey Kramer led the charge, scoring 13 of his team-high 18 points in the third frame. Sophomore Ben Piekarz (11 points) and senior Ali Tharwani (10 points) also finished with double-digit points on the night.

“We definitely had some good stretches on the court, but when you’re playing a solid team, you have to be consistent physically and mentally,” coach Piekarz said. “And when things don’t go your way, you have to be able to move on and keep fighting and put yourself in a position to succeed.”