BEREA, Ohio — It wasn't easy, but the No. 4 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team made it three in a row against ranked opponents as the Pioneers beat No. 20 Baldwin Wallace University 84-64 Saturday (Dec. 3) afternoon in the Ohio Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

"It was great to see our guys respond in a positive manner after we were on the ropes in the first half," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "We really struggled to get going but we definitely got on a roll the second half."

Marietta (6-0 overall, 1-0 OAC) suffered through its worst half of shooting this season making just 29% of its field goal attempts in the first half. Meanwhile, Baldwin Wallace (4-1 overall, 0-1 OAC) sank 52% from the floor and led 35-29 at halftime.

The Pioneers more than made up for the slow start by pouring in a season-high 55 points in the second half. Marietta exploded for 12 straight points in a three-minute span to flip a seven-point deficit into a five-point lead, 49-44, with 11:59 left in the game. MC never trailed again.

With shots from the perimeter not falling for Marietta, the Pioneers pounded the ball inside. Marietta outscored Baldwin Wallace in the paint, 54-20. Three layups from A.J. Edwards (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) and another from Kyle Dixon (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary) pushed MC's lead to 11 points, 60-49, at the 8:13 mark.

Three straight layups from Keith Richardson (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) gave Marietta its biggest lead of the day, 81-59, with 1:33 left on the clock. Richardson led five Pioneers in double figures with 17 points. Edwards finished with 14 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Anthony Wallace (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) and Caleb Hoyng (Celina, Ohio/Celina) chipped in with 11 points each, while Dillon Young (Laurelville, Ohio/Logan Elm) added 10 points. Jack Thome (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Chagrin Falls) also grabbed eight boards for the Pioneers.

Cam Kuhn paced the Yellow Jackets with 17 points. Alex Nahra was the only other BW player in double figures with 11 points. Jake Fetheroff pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds and blocked four MC shots.

For the game, Marietta shot 41.8% (33-of-79) from the floor, 21.7% (5-of-23) from three-point range and 65.0% (13-of-20) at the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets were 23-of-56 (41.1%) from the floor, 7-of-32 (21.9%) behind the arc and 11-of-14 (78.6%) at the line.

Marietta won the battle of the boards, 48-37, including an 18-5 edge on the offense glass which resulted in 15 second chance points for the Pioneers. Baldwin Wallace turned the ball over 15 times, while MC committed just six turnovers in the game.

Marietta travels to Westerville on Tuesday (Dec. 6) for a 7 p.m. tilt at Otterbein University. 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.