PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The No. 6 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team bounced back from its first loss of the year to beat La Roche College, 81-75, Monday (Dec. 4) evening in a non-conference match up. MC improves to 6-1 overall, while La Roche drops to 4-3 on the season.
The RedHawks scored the first basket of the game for their only lead of the night.
Caleb Hoyng (Celina, Ohio/Celina) drained a three-pointer seconds later to put the Pioneers in front for good.
Dillon Young (Laurelville, Ohio/Logan Elm) hit a triple with 7:42 left in the first half to cap a 14-4 Marietta run and extend the Pioneer lead to 12 points, 29-17. MC pushed the lead to as many as 18 points in the opening period and took a 45-29 lead into halftime.
Trailing by 15 with just over two minutes left in the game, La Roche got hot from three-point range and cut the Marietta lead three, 78-75, with 13 seconds left on the clock.
Kyle Dixon (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary) iced the game for Marietta with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
Young hit three shots from behind the arc and led the Pioneers with 16 points.
Anthony Wallace (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) scored 10 points at the free throw line and finished with 14 points in the game, while
Avery Williams (Nashport, Ohio/Tri-Valley) added 11 points and four rebounds. Dixon led the Pioneers with nine boards and chipped in with six points.
Trell Thomas paced La Roche with a game-high 19 points. Ray Quan Phifer recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Ryan Norkus had 16 points and nine boards. Tyler Frederick pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds.
For the game, Marietta shot 41.5% (22-of-53) from the floor, 36.8% (7-of-19) from three-point range and 73.2% (30-of-41) at the line. The RedHawks were 26-of-75 (34.7%) from the floor, 9-of-26 (34.6%) behind the arc and 14-of-22 (63.6%) at the line.
Marietta returns home to host Ohio Athletic Conference rival John Carroll University on Saturday (Dec 9). Tip off is set for 3 p.m.
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.
