Marquette boarded the USS Yorktown to open the 2012-2013 season against fourth-ranked Ohio State. Marquette would have to deal with Aaron Craft, who led Ohio State to the Final Four, eight months earlier.

However, condensation on the court cancelled the game. Marquette hosted Ohio State the following year but lost 52-35 as Craft scored 10 points and had seven rebounds and three assists.

Five years later, Marquette will get its chance to take down Aaron Craft as the Golden Eagles Alumni will take on Scarlet and Gray Sunday after outlasting Purple and Black, 84-77, Saturday in New York.

The win was not always a sure thing, however. Entering the second half with a 40-39 lead, the team did not recapture the lead until Davante Gardner hit a pair of free throws to make it 66-65. Even then, the Purple and Black took the lead right back with a 3-pointer the subsequent possession.

Then the Alumni turned to Marquette’s all-time leading scorer Jerel McNeal for some offense. McNeal drove to the paint, drew the foul and scored the and-one to take a 72-69 lead. Marquette would not look back.

After a relatively quiet first half, Johnson-Odom scored five points in the next two minutes to expand the lead to 77-71.

Johnson-Odom finished with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting from 2-point range. The  Gardner led the team with 20 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 10-for-11 shooting from the charity stripe.

Gardner was not the only one with success from the line. The team was 21 for 25 compared to Purple and Black’s 15-for-26 free throw woes.

Marquette also owned a 17-12 advantage in the turnover category, allowing the Golden Eagles to score 22 of its 84 points off turnovers.