MARIETTA, Ohio — Senior
Luis Garcia (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) nailed five three-pointers leading Marietta College to a 78-67 victory over visiting Muskingum University Wednesday (Dec. 2) evening in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both schools. The Pioneers are 5-1 overall, while the Muskies drop to 3-4 on the season.
Dillon Young (Laurelville, Ohio/Logan Elm) hit a three-pointer to put Marietta in front, 6-5, with just over four minutes played in the first half. The Pioneers would not relinquish the lead again.
Muskingum struggled everywhere but the free throw line. The Muskies were ice cold in the first half hitting just 6-of-28 shot attempts from the floor and 2-of-10 from behind the arc. Muskingum trailed by 11 points, 31-20, at halftime.
Garcia scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half and spurred the Pioneers to its biggest lead of the game. His fifth trey of the night made it a 23-point margin, 70-47, with 4:15 left on the clock.
The Muskies heated up a little in the second half connecting on nine shots from behind the arc. Soon after Garcia's last three-pointer, Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal cleared his bench. Muskingum took advantage and cut the deficit to nine, 76-67. The Pioneers hit 6-of-7 free throws down the stretch to fend off the Muskie run.
In addition to Garcia's 23 points,
A.J. Edwards (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) had 15 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.
Nate Walker (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) scored eight points off the bench, while Young,
Eddy Grenert (Wooster, Ohio/Triway) and
A.J. Ireland (Carroll, Ohio/Bloom-Carroll) each chipped in with seven points.
Ireland and Grenert each grabbed a game-high nine boards. Grenert also dished out a career-best seven assists.
Jarrell Marsh came off the bench to lead Muskingum with 16 points and seven rebounds. Jalen Paige and Joshua Glass finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Marietta shot 39.7% (29-of-73) from the floor, 27.3% (9-of-33) from three-point range and 78.6% (11-of-14) at the line. Muskingum was 21-of-62 (33.9%) from the floor, 11-of-26 (42.3%) from three-point range and a perfect 14-of-14 (100.0%) at the line.
The Pioneers outrebounded Muskingum 49-38 including a 16-8 edge on the offensive glass. The Muskies turned the ball over 12 times, while Marietta committed 10 turnovers.
The Pioneers are back in action on Fenton Court this Saturday (Dec. 5) against Wilmington College. Tip off is set for 3:00 p.m. In a partnership with Toys for Tots, any fan that donates a new, unwrapped toy will receive free admission into the game.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
