UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio —The Marietta College men's basketball team led the first 18 minutes of Saturday (Feb. 14) afternoon's Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) contest at John Carroll University. The first place Blue Streaks, however, controlled the rest of the game en route to an 85-76 win.
Marietta (12-11, 7-9 OAC) had four players finish in double figures. Senior wing Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) led the way with a game-high tying 15 points. Freshmen wings Trevor Halter (Malvern) and Joe Puch (Brunswick) both added 14 points, while freshman wing Rydell Chrisman (Coshocton) contributed 11 points. Puch also finished with five rebounds and three steals in the game.
John Carroll (18-4, 14-2 OAC) had six players reach double digits. Chris Zajac matched Creasap with 15 points. Maurice Haynes had 14 points, Tyler Kirsch contributed 11 points and Rudy Kirbus, Corey Shontz and Matt Crozier all added 10 points in the win.
Marietta, who shot 58.3% (14-of-24) in the first half and 24.0% (6-of-25) in the second half, hit a trio of three-pointers, the first two from Creasap and the third by Halter, to jump out to a 9-2 advantage after the initial two minutes of the game. John Carroll cut the lead to one point, 9-8, 90 seconds later. The Pioneers went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to claim their biggest lead of the game, 18-10, with 14:28 to play in the period. Marietta's lead was again 10 points, 24-14, with 11:33 remaining. John Carroll followed with a 10-2 run to pull within a basket, 26-24, at the 8:22 mark of the first half. The teams traded buckets the rest of the half with Marietta maintaining a lead until Haynes hit a jumper to give his squad its first lead of the game, 43-41, with 1:28 to go. Marietta, however, tied the game at 44-44 before the squads entered intermission.
The first five minutes of the second half belong to John Carroll as it outscored Marietta 11-0 to build a 55-44 lead. A free throw by Halter stopped the run with 15:02 remaining in the game. The Blue Streaks' advantage grew to 17 points, 73-56, as the clock went under seven minutes. Marietta closed the gap to six points over the next six minutes and trailed 80-74 with 62 seconds left on the clock. John Carroll, however, hit its free throws down the stretch to secure the 85-76 win.
Turnovers plagued both teams on Saturday, as Marietta turned the ball over against the John Carroll press 23 times, which led to 28 points. The Blue streaks gave the ball back to the Pioneers on 22 occasions, which resulted in 10 points. John Carroll won the battle of the boards by out-rebounding Marietta 43-33, including 18-8 on the offensive glass.
Marietta is back in action on Wednesday (Feb. 18) night when the Pioneers close out their home schedule with a Senior Day battle against Mount Union College. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
