Box Score COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior
Jacob Owens (Mansfield/Mansfield) banked in a fade-away three-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to lift Marietta College over Capital University by the score of 69-68 Wednesday (Jan. 16) evening.
The win moves the Pioneers into a tie for first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings with an 8-1 record. Marietta is 12-4 overall, while the Crusaders fall to 11-5 on the season.
Marietta played from behind most of the game, but the Crusaders were never able to pull away. Capital led by eight points, 38-30, with 1:25 left in the first half only to see the Pioneers finish on an 8-3 run cutting the Crusader lead to three, 41-38, at halftime.
Capital never trailed in the second period until Owens drained the game-winning shot. Marietta managed to tie the game a couple of times early in the period. The Crusaders eventually built a 10-point lead, 60-50, with 6:04 left on the clock.
The Pioneers used a balanced attack to outscore Capital 19-8 over the final six minutes. 6-foot-7 post player
Garrett Stephenson (West Milton/Milton-Union) drained a three-pointer, just his third of the season, cutting the Crusader lead to two, 64-62, with 2:10 remaining.
Spencer Niekamp hit a pair of free throws to push the margin back to four, 66-62. After trading buckets, senior
Tyler Worstell (Prospect/Franklin Heights) hit a jumper with 43 seconds left to make it a two point game, 68-66.
Following a Pioneer timeout, Capital committed a crucial turnover giving Marietta the ball with 10 seconds on the clock. Head coach
Jon VanderWal called timeout to set up the last shot for Owens who delivered game-winner.
Owens led all scorers with 17 points. After connecting on 3-of-4 from behind the arc tonight, Owens has hit nine of his last 10 three-point attempts. Worstell finished with 11 points and Stephenson had 10 points and a team-best six rebounds.
Andrew Bolka scored 16 points and grabbed seven boards to lead the Crusaders. Michael Sommer had 11 points, while Niekamp and AJ Dixon each tallied 10 points.
Marietta shot 57.8% (26-of-45) from the floor, 40.0% (8-of-20) from three-point range and 90.0% (9-of-10) at the line. Capital connected on 26-of-47 (55.3%) from the floor, 6-of-16 (37.5%) behind the arc and 10-of-15 (66.7%) at the line.
The Crusaders grabbed 23 rebounds to Marietta's 22. The Pioneers committed 17 turnovers and forced the Crusaders to turn the ball over 14 times.
Marietta hosts Wilmington College on Saturday (Jan. 19). Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. 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.
