MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's basketball team suffered an agonizing 70-68 defeat at the hands of visiting John Carroll University Saturday (Jan. 23) afternoon at Fenton Court. As a result, the Pioneers fell to 8-9 overall and 4-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), while the Blue Streaks improved to 11-5 overall and 7-3 in the OAC. [Box Score]

For the second straight Saturday, the Pioneers, fresh off three-straight wins, welcomed a top-tier OAC team to Ban Johnson Arena in an attempt to boost their own place in the OAC. They proved to be up to the task once again as both Marietta and John Carroll traded blows throughout the first half. Marietta held the lead for much of the first stanza, building its lead to as many 10 points, 43-33, with 34 seconds to go before intermission. The Blue Streaks scored the final two points before the half but still found themselves trailing 43-35 at the break.

The Blue Streaks came out in the second half trying to slow down the Pioneer attack. Slowly but surely, John Carroll chipped away at Marietta's lead. The Blue Streaks outscored the Pioneers 14-6 over the first 7 minutes of the half to tie the game 49-49 with 12:57 to go in regulation. The Blue Streaks added two more quick scores to lead 53-49, quieting the Fenton Court crowd.

With the Blue Streaks leading 55-52, the Pioneers were in search of a big response. They got it when senior forward Matt Kubachka (Shade, Alexander) drove down the left side of the paint and hammered home a two-handed slam to bring the energy back to the entire arena. The Blue Streaks, however; kept their composure and built their lead up to 5 points, 65-60, with 3:42 to go in the game.

Later, trailing by three points with only 16 seconds to play, the Pioneers needed a three-pointer to tie the game and force overtime. John Carroll smartly fouled with four seconds on the clock, sending sophomore Joe Puch (Brunswick, Brunswick) to the line for two free throws. After making the first, Puch missed the second intentionally, but a John Carroll player managed to snag the rebound and secure the Blue Streak's 70-68 victory.

Marietta was led by sophomore Trevor Halter (Malvern, Malvern), who scored a game-high 22 points and tied a game-high with three assists. Sophomore Kevin Knab (Lakewood, Lakewood) recorded another double-double finishing with 16 points and a game-high 13 boards. Kubachka chipped in with eight points and nine rebounds on the day.

John Carroll was led by Rudy Kirbus off the bench with 11 points and five rebounds. Corey Shontz added 10 points for the Blue Streaks who had 12 players mark the scoring column in the win.

Marietta finished the game 20-of-43 (46.5%) from the field, 4-of-15 (26.7%) from three and 24-of-34 (70.6%) from the charity stripe. John Carroll shot 23-of-60 (38.3%) from the field, 6-of-18 (33.3%) from behind the arc and 18-of-23 (78.3%) from the free throw line. The Pioneers out rebounded the Blue Streaks 36-34. Marietta converted 15 points off 13 John Carroll turnovers while the Blue Streaks converted 24 points off 19 Pioneer turnovers.

The Pioneers return to action Wednesday (Jan.27) night against visiting Mount Union College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.