MARIETTA, Ohio – The 10th ranked Marietta College men's basketball team, coming off its first loss of the young season, responded with an 87-77 win over Ohio Athletic Conference rival Muskingum University Wednesday (Dec. 7) night inside Ban Johnson Arena. With the win the Pioneers, 5-1 overall, earned its first OAC win of the season improving to 1-1. Muskingum falls to 2-5 and 0-2 in the OAC. [Box Score]

“Tonight was a story of two halves. The first half I was really excited about our energy, effort and intensity. I thought we were focused and ready to play,” said Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal.

“I felt we got complacent in the second half and gave Muskingum some life. To their credit, they kept playing really hard and started making some plays. We had to fight down the stretch to hold them off.”

After a tight first five minutes of play, the tables started to swing in the direction of Marietta in front of another raucous crowd at Fenton Court. The score was tied, 12-12, with 13:39 to play in the first half before the Pioneers took out its frustrations on the vulnerable Muskies. Marietta out scored Muskingum 37-17 to close out the rest of the period and lead at the half, 47-27. Senior post #Kevin Knab (Lakewood/Lakewood)# scored 14 points and grabbed five boards in the first half.

The second half lead stayed around 20 points in the early stages of the half as the play turned much more physical. A total of 49 fouls were called in the game, including 27 in the second half alone. Muskingum cut the lead down to seven at 79-72 with 2:16 to play causing a series of Marietta timeouts. Marietta would regroup down the stretch by converting late at the free throw line and hold on for the 87-77 victory.

Knab led all scorers with 19 points and six rebounds for the Pioneers. Junior post #Jason Humphrey (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier)# scored a season-high 15 points while grabbing five boards. Junior guard #Scott Kimmey (Olmsted Falls/Olmsted Falls)# continued his hot shooting with 13 points going 3-6 from behind the arc. Freshman guard #Brennan McKean (Jeromesville, Ohio/Northwestern)# and sophomore guard #Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius)# each added 10 points off the bench for Marietta in the win.

Muskingum was led by Kyle Clinedinst with 17 points and eight boards. Josh Brindley added 14 points while grabbing a game-high nine rebounds. Jonathon Primes came off the bench to score 13 for the Muskies in the loss.

Marietta finished the game shooting 50.9% (29-of-57) from the field, 33.3% (5-of-15) from behind the arc and 70.6% (24-of-34) from the free throw line.

For the game, Muskingum shot 45.5% (25-of-55) from the field, 60% (6-of-10) from three and 70%(21-of-30) from the charity stripe.

The Muskies held a slim edge on the boards at 35-31 but committed 18 turnovers to Marietta's 12.

The Pioneers return to action on Saturday (Dec. 10) evening as they travel to Otterbein University for another OAC clash. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.