MARIETTA, Ohio — All five starters scored in double figures as No. 18 Marietta College defeated Capital University, 82-68, Wednesday (Jan. 17) evening in Ban Johnson Arena.
Marietta is 13-3 overall and reaches the midway point in the Ohio Athletic Conference schedule with a 7-2 league record. The Pioneers are tied with John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace for first place in the OAC standings. Capital falls to 7-9 overall and 3-6 in the OAC.
"Capital had a nice game plan tonight," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "It took us awhile to adjust. We hit a couple of shots to get things going and Dillon (Young) played a tremendous game tonight. Dillon made several big shots and also created shots for our other guys."
Young scored a team-best 18 points. He had five rebounds, seven assists and did not commit a turnover while playing 36 minutes at the point.
DeVaughn Wingard (Warrensville Heights, Ohio/Orange) and
Kyle Dixon (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary) scored 14 and 13 points, respectively. Dixon also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Avery Williams (Nashport, Ohio/Tri-Valley) finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while
Mel Shuler (Columbus, Ohio/Tree of Life Christian) added 10 points.
Capital's Austin Schreck led all scorers with 20 points. He pulled down six rebounds. Cameron Caldwell chipped in with 14 points and Will Hannah added 13 points.
Neither team could maintain control in the first half as there were seven lead changes and the biggest lead in the period was four points. Schreck hit a three-pointer to give Capital a 30-29 lead at halftime.
The Crusaders opened their biggest lead of the game early in the second half. Schreck converted a pair of free throws four minutes into the period for an eight-point Capital lead, 44-36.
A three-pointer from Shuler triggered a 13-2 run for Marietta. Capital's eight-point lead evaporated as the Pioneers went in front, 51-48, midway through the half.
The Pioneer lead ballooned to 14 points, 68-54 as Marietta stayed hot from long range. Three-pointers from
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding), Young and
Mike Hall (Belpre, Ohio/Warren) put the game out of reach.
For the game, Marietta shot 49.1% (28-of-57) from the floor, 44.8% (13-of-29) from three-point range and 92.9% (13-of-14) at the free throw line. The Crusaders were 23-of-50 (46.0%) from the floor, 7-of-14 (50.0%) behind the arc and 15-of-23 (65.2%) at the line.
The Pioneers edged Capital on the boards, 33-28. Both teams committed six turnovers in the game.
Marietta travels to University Heights on Saturday (Jan. 20) for a showdown at John Carroll University. Tip off is set for 2 p.m. in the DeCarlo Center.
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.
