Box Score TIFFIN, Ohio – it didn't come easy, but then again nothing does in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Marietta College men's basketball team saw its 15-point halftime lead disappear in the second half only to rebound in the last three-plus minutes to a 82-69 victory over Heidelberg University Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon in Tiffin. [Box Score]

Marietta is now 16-7 overall on the year and 11-5 in the OAC. The win keeps Marietta in a tie for second in the conference with John Carroll. The Pioneers trail only Capital by a game in the league standings and host the Crusaders Wednesday (Feb. 15) evening on Fenton Court. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Heidelberg drops to 6-17 overall and 4-12 in the OAC.

The Pioneers came out swinging early building a 16-4 lead just four and half minutes into the contest. Marietta pushed the lead to 38-20 with 2:51 before the half and led 38-23 at intermission. Senior wing Trevor Halter (Malvern/Malvern) scored 12 first half points going 5-of-6 from the field in the opening stanza.

Halter led all scorers with 26 points. He connected on 13-of-16 free throw attempts to go along with a 6-of-11 day from the floor. Halter added six rebounds in the win. Senior post Kevin Knab (Lakewood/Lakewood) scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

Knab and Halter are now the second highest scoring duo in Marietta College history with 2,797 career points between them. They trail the duo of Mark Davis and Ron Weekly, who ended their careers in 1955 with 2,845 points.

Marietta point guards junior Tyler Worstell (Prospect/Franklin Heights) and sophomore Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) each added 10 points in the game.

Junior guard Dane Givner paced the Student Princes with 24 points and a game-high six assists to go along with seven boards. Junior forward Nate Davis chipped in with 19 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Heidelberg head coach Anthony Gholson fired his team up at halftime as the Student Princes came from 15 points down to tie the game, 49-49, with 9:06 left to play. The Pioneers never trailed in the game but Heidelberg kept it close until Marietta pulled away in the final minutes.

Marietta shot 46.6% (27-of-58) from the field, 43.8% (7-of-16) from behind the arc and 67.7% (21-of-31) from the free throw line.

Heidelberg finished the game shooting 43.4% (23-of-53) from the field, 44.4% (8-of-18) from three and 83.3% (15-of-18) from the charity stripe.

Marietta won the battle of the boards by a 38-30 margin. The Pioneers took great care of the ball committing just nine turnovers to 13 for the Student Princes.

Marietta returns home for its final two regular season games. The Pioneers host conference leader Capital University on Wednesday (Feb. 15) at 7:30 p.m.