MARIETTA, Ohio — A cold shooting night by the Marietta College men's basketball team allowed visiting Mount Union College to escape Ban Johnson Arena with a 63-60 win on Wednesday (Feb. 18) night. The Pioneers, who shot just 21-of-56 (.375) from field and 2-of-22 (.091) from long range, fought back from a 20-point deficit and had a chance to tie the game on their final possession but a three-pointer was off the mark and the Purple Raiders held on for the three-point victory.

The loss dropped the Pioneers' record to 12-12 overall and 7-10 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC). Mount Union improved to 12-12 overall and 6-11 in the OAC, which secured it a spot in next week's OAC Tournament. Marietta had already qualified for the eight-team tournament and will be the #6 seed. Its opponent is yet to be determined.

The Pioneers fell behind early and were forced to play catch up the entire game. The Purple Raiders stretched their lead to 13 points, 21-8, at the midway point of the first half. The Pioneers' cold shooting prevented them from making a run in the first half and they went into the locker room trailing by seven points, 32-25.

The shooting woes continued in the early minutes of the second half. Mount Union stretched its lead to as many as 20 points, 55-35, with 9:38 remaining. The Pioneers slowly crept their way back into the game with a 12-0 run over the next five minutes to trail by only eight points, 55-47, with 4:29 to play. A tip-in from freshman post Zane Carter (Wellsville) cut the deficit to three points, 60-57, with 1:18 remaining. Mount Union turned the ball over on its next possession, allowing senior Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) to tie the game at 60-60 with 54 seconds left on the clock after he connected on his only three-pointer of the night.

After a Mount Union timeout, Chris Switzer scored the biggest three points of his game-high 17 points to give the Raiders back the lead, 63-60, with 37 seconds to go. Creasap misfired on two straight three's before the Pioneers had to foul. Dave Pellerite missed the front end of a one-and-one to give Marietta one last shot at tying the game. Freshman Joe Puch's (Brunswick) desperation three fell short, however, and the Pioneers fell 63-60.

Freshman Kevin Knab (Lakewood) led the Pioneers off the bench with 16 points and three rebounds. Fellow freshman Trevor Halter (Malvern) added 12 points, while Puch scored nine. Creasap and Carter chipped in eight points a piece in the loss.

Switzer led Mount Union with 17 points. Pellerite scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds in the victory.

The Purple Raiders out-rebounded the Pioneers, 36-26, but lost the turnover battle committing 20 to Marietta's nine.

The Pioneers will wrap up the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 21) afternoon at Baldwin-Wallace College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.