Box Score MARIETTA, Ohio – The Marietta College men's basketball team and John Carroll Blue Streaks came into Saturday's (Feb. 18) showdown with the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season title on the line. After trading blow after blow, John Carroll came out victorious 78-76 inside Ban Johnson Arena. [Box Score]

John Carroll (18-6 overall, 13-5 OAC) clinches a share of the league title with Capital, and claims the number one seed in next week's OAC Tournament. Marietta (17-8 overall, 12-6 OAC) is now the number three seed, and will play the winner of Ohio Northern and Mount Union inside Ban Johnson Arena on Tuesday (Feb. 21) night at 7:30 p.m.

The instant classic featured six ties and 11 lead changes through 40 minutes. Marietta started off on a 10-2 run in the first 3:02 of the game, getting the 1,437 screaming Pioneer faithful going from the start. John Carroll was able to weather the storm as it chipped away at the lead before going ahead 27-26 at the 6:01 mark in the first half. The Blue Streaks led by as many as eight before going to the locker room leading 40-35 at the half.

The Pioneers came out of halftime on a 7-0 run to reclaim the lead 42-40 just 1:16 into the second half. Marietta led by six on two occasions in the second half before John Carroll fought back. With the score tied at 61-61, John Carroll went on a 5-0 run to lead 66-61 with 5:38 left in the second half. A Pioneer 8-0 run put Marietta up 69-66 with 4:17 remaining in regulation.

The Pioneers and Blue Streaks then traded ties and leads in the final three minutes of the game. Trevor Halter (Malvern/Malvern) converted a layup to put Marietta up 76-75 with 16 seconds left on the clock. John Carroll's Corey Shontz was able to find an open Joey Meyer for three putting the Blue Streaks back up 78-76 with five seconds on the clock. A last second shot by Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) was off the mark as John Carroll escaped with the two-point win.

Junior post #J.J. Martin led all scorers with 20 points to go along with six rebounds. Senior post (West Milton/Milton-Union)Kevin Knab# scored 17 points while grabbing a game-high 14 boards. Hammond added 16 points and game-high four steals. Halter posted 14 points with four rebounds in the loss.

Meyer and Kyle Hubbard scored 14 points each to lead the Blue Streaks. Conor Sweeney and Patrick Sweeney each scored 13 points while Mark Hester added 12 points. Shontz scored six points while dishing out a game-high 10 assists.

The Pioneers finished the game shooting 41.5% (22-of-53) from the field, 18.2% (4-of-22) from behind the arc and 77.8% (28-of-36) from the free throw line.

John Carroll shot 44.3% (27-of-61) from the field, 31.6% (6-of-19) from three-point range and 75% (18-of-24) from the free throw line.

Marietta held the edge in rebounding 37-34 but committed 14 turnovers to John Carroll's 12. The John Carroll bench outscored the Pioneer bench 40-6.