MARIETTA, Ohio — Six Pioneers scored in double figures as No. 9 ranked Marietta College defeated rival Muskingum University, 94-76, Wednesday (Feb. 15) evening in Ban Johnson Arena.
The Pioneers improve to 20-4 overall and 15-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. This marks the first time in program history that Marietta has won 20 games in three consecutive seasons. The Pioneers were 28-4 two years ago and 25-4 last winter.
Marietta is currently in first place in the OAC one game ahead of Ohio Northern and John Carroll. The Pioneers host ONU in the regular season finale for both schools on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.
Dillon Young (Laurelville, Ohio/Logan Elm) hit four three-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead the Pioneers.
A.J. Edwards (Twinsburg, Ohio/Twinsburg) had 15 points and a team-high six rebounds, while
Anthony Wallace (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) chipped in with 13 points.
Keith Richardson (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) added 12 points, five boards and six assists.
Jack Thome (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Chagrin Falls) and
RaNeal Ewing (Westerville/Dublin Scioto) came off the bench to score 13 and 11 points, respectively for the Pioneers.
Joshua Keyes led the Muskies with 19 points and also grabbed eight rebounds. Marcus Dempsey was close behind with 18 points and Rickey Wilson added 16 markers. Jarrell Marsh pulled down a game-high nine boards.
After exchanging small leads in the opening minutes of the game, Ewing hit a three-pointer to put Marietta in front 18-15 with 12:08 left in the first half. The Pioneers maintained the lead for the duration of the half but were unable to pull away from the Muskies.
Jalen Paige sank a three-pointer late in the half to cut the margin to one point, 40-39, at halftime.
Keyes started the second half with a pair of free throws to go back on top. Marietta finally got on track and put together a 24-6 run to build a 17-point lead, 64-47, seven minutes into the second half.
The Pioneers pushed the margin to as many as 21 points and cruised to their 14th straight win over Muskingum.
Marietta shot better than 50% from the floor for the fourth straight game connecting on 36-of-66 (54.5%) attempts. The Pioneers shot 38.1% (8-of-21) from three-point range and 77.8% (14-of-18) at the free throw line. Muskingum was 26-of-57 (45.6%) from the floor, 6-of-18 (33.3%) behind the arc and 94.7% (18-of-19) at the line.
The Muskies edged Marietta on the glass, 33-30. The Pioneers forced 14 Muskingum turnovers, while committing just four of their own.
Marietta concludes the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 18) with a 3:00 p.m. game against Ohio Northern 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.
