Box Score WILMINGTON, Ohio – In a battle for second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings,
Eddy Grenert (Wooster/Triway) hit a jumper with 0.4 seconds left to give the Marietta College men's basketball team a 78-76 win over Wilmington College Saturday (Jan. 25) afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 13-4 overall and 8-2 in the OAC. Wilmington falls to 10-6 overall and 7-3 in the OAC.
Grenert was involved in Marietta's final six points of the game scoring four and picking up an assist on the other two. Grenert was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor and finished with 13 points off the bench.
In a game that featured 14 ties and 20 lead changes, neither team was able to build a double-digit lead. The Pioneers lead by nine, 28-19, after a three-pointer from
Luis Garcia (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) with 9:31 left in the first half. Marietta took a 37-34 lead into halftime.
As close as the first half was, the second was even closer as the margin was never more than six points.
A pair of free throws from Jonathan Bibbs gave Wilmington a 70-67 lead with 4:17 remaining. Marietta responded with a 5-0 run capped by a Grenert layup with 3:09 on the clock.
On the ensuing possession Wilmington got six shots off, with six offensive rebounds, before Marietta was whistled for a foul. R.J. Leppert hit two free throws to tie the game at 72 with 2:13 left.
Garcia scored on a driving layup with an assist from Grenert four a two-point Pioneer lead. Leppert answered with a three-pointer to put the Quakers in front by one, 75-74.
Grenert got an offensive rebound and tip-in with 52 seconds on the clock giving Marietta the lead back. He was then whistled for a foul on the other end sending Malcolm Heard to the line with 25 ticks on the clock. Heard converted 1-of-2 tying the game at 76.
Marietta held the ball for the last shot and Grenert delivered the game-winner.
Garcia was 8-of-13 from the floor and hit four three-pointers for a career-high 29 points to go along with a team-best seven rebounds. Freshman
Keith Richardson (Englewood/Northmont) scored 12 points and junior
Andy Stegman (Wheelersburg/Wheelersburg) finished with 10 points.
Heard led all scorers with 32 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the double-double. Klarke Ransome scored 14 points and Leppert finished with 13.
Wilmington edged Marietta on the glass, 29-25. The Pioneers turned the ball over 12 times, while the Quakers committed 15 turnovers.
For the game, Marietta shot 51.1% (24-of-47) from the floor, 44.4% (8-of-18) from three-point range and 78.6% (22-of-28) at the line. Wilmington was 25-of-53 (47.2%) from the floor, 7-of-21 (33.3%) behind the arc and 19-of-23 (82.6%) at the line.
Marietta hosts Otterbein University on Wednesday (Jan. 29) for a 7:30 p.m. tip. Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
