MARIETTA, Ohio – The No. 22-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University men's basketball team scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back as the Battling Bishops defeated Marietta College 76-55 in the Championship Game of the 42nd annual Shrine Tournament.
Ohio Wesleyan (2-0 overall) shot 50% from the floor in the first half including 8-of-14 (57.1%) from three-point range to take a 40-23 lead into the locker room at halftime.
A jumper by #
Garrett Stephenson (West Milton/Milton-Union)# with 11:30 left in the first half cut the OWU lead to four, 18-14. However, the Bishops answered with a 9-0 run to push the lead back into double digits, 25-14. Taylor Rieger drained a three with less than a minute in the period to give Ohio Wesleyan their biggest lead of the first half, 40-23.
The Pioneers opened the second half with a little run and trimmed the deficit to 11 points, 48-37, on a jumper from #
Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius)#. Ohio Wesleyan didn't panic and gradually pulled away. The Bishops lead by as many as 27 points in the second half.
Greg White and Reuel Rogers led four Bishops in double figures with 14 points each. Rogers was named to the all-tournament team. Taylor Rieger also earned all-tourney honors after scoring 13 points.
Point guard Andy Winters was tabbed the Cliff Rose Most Valuable Player. Winters scored 10 points and dished out nine assists.
Stephenson led the Pioneers with 14 points, while Hammond added 10 points. Stephenson and #
Jason Humphrey (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier)# were named to the all-tournament team. Humphrey scored six points and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
For the game, Ohio Wesleyan shot 45.6% (26-of-57) from the floor, 50.0% (10-of-20) from long range and 70.0% (14-of-20) from the free throw line.
Marietta shot 36.5% (23-of-63) from the floor, 10.5% (2-of-19) from behind the arc and 58.3% (7-of-12) from the line.
In the consolation game, Frostburg State defeated Defiance College on a buzzer-beater from all-tournament selection Christian Jackson. With the game tied, 74-74, Jackson nailed a jumper with no time on the clock for the win. He ended the game with 20 points.
Defiance was led by all-tournament honoree Logan Wolfrum who scored a tournament-best 34 points in the loss.
Marietta is back in action on Tuesday (Nov. 20) when Waynesburg College (Pa.) comes to Ban Johnson Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Fans can catch the action live at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
