WILMINGTON, Ohio – Three Pioneers scored in double figures as the Marietta College men's basketball team defeated Wilmington College by the score of 64-57 Saturday (Dec. 8) afternoon. Marietta moves to 2-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play and 5-2 overall.
Wilmington took the early lead, but a three-pointer from senior #
Jacob Owens (Mansfield/Mansfield)# at the 11:32 mark of the opening period gave Marietta the lead, 17-16. The Pioneers would remain in front for the rest of the first half taking a 34-28 edge into the locker room at halftime.
Owens was 3-of-4 from behind the arc and scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half to lead the Pioneer offensive attack.
A layup from sophomore #
Garrett Stephenson (West Milton/Milton-Union)# with 14:36 left in the game gave the Pioneers their biggest lead of the game, 44-35. The Quakers refused to go quietly and responded with a 12-0 run to take the lead, 47-44, at the 9:09 mark.
Wilmington went cold from the floor missing shots on five straight trips down the floor. The Pioneers capitalized on the Quakers' struggles and put together an 11-2 run retaking the lead, 55-49, with 4:45 left in the game.
The Quakers cut the deficit to two, 57-55, with just over a minute on the clock. Marietta hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch for the win.
Junior #
Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius)# led Marietta with 15 points. Owens added 14 and senior #
J.J. Martin (Huntington, W.Va./Huntington)# had 12 points and a game-high seven rebounds.
Wilmington's Klarke Ransom led all scorers with 17 points. Brandon Candella chipped in with 12 points, while Taylor Wellman had 11. Candella and R.J. Leppert each grabbed seven boards.
Marietta shot 43.4% (23-of-53) from the floor, 42.1% (8-of-19) from three-point range and 55.6% (10-of-18) at the line. Wilmington hit 22-of-64 (34.4%) from the floor, 7-of-23 (30.4%) from behind the arc and 6-of-9 (66.7%) from the line.
Wilmington won the battle of the boards, 44-37. The Quakers committed 11 turnovers to Marietta's nine.
Marietta travels to Tiffin next Saturday (Dec. 15) for a 4:00 p.m. game at Heidelberg University. 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.
