NEW CONCORD, Ohio — No. 8 ranked Marietta College exploded for 55 second half points as the Pioneers defeated rival Muskingum University, 89-67, Wednesday (Dec. 19) in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest.
The win was Marietta's 17th straight over the Muskies. The Pioneers improve to 10-0 overall and 5-0 in the OAC. Muskingum slips to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the OAC.
Both teams got off to a slow start and were tied, 14-14, mid-way through the first half. The teams traded small leads until a three-pointer from
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) with 3:26 left in the half triggered a 9-0 Pioneer run and pushing Marietta's lead to eight, 34-26, at the 2:00 minute mark.
Muskingum scored the final four points of the period to cut into the Pioneers advantage. Marietta led 34-30 at the halftime break.
The Muskies got within three points twice in the opening minutes of the second half, but a 10-0 Marietta run extended the lead into double digits where it would remain for the duration of the game.
Kyle Dixon (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary) drained a triple to start the run and
Keith Richardson (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) capped it with a fast break layup off a steal from
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding).
The lead ballooned to as many as 26 points, 85-59, when
Anthony Wallace (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) drained a three-pointer with 3:31 left in the game. Wallace finished with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds. He needs just 11 points to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Ellis came off the bench to lead Marietta with 14 points. The Pioneer bench once again was the difference in the game outscoring Muskingum, 47-25.
Kyle Dixon (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary) added 11 points and
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) chipped in with 10.
Caleb Hoyng (Celina, Ohio/Celina) and
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) each scored nine points, while Richardson finished with eight points.
Muskingum's Mitch Clark led all scorers with 19 points. He also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. The Muskies played without the OAC's leading scorer, Marcus Dempsey (25.7 ppg), who was out with a wrist injury.
For the game, Marietta was 30-of-71 (42.3%) from the floor, 10-of-30 (33.3%) from three-point range and 19-of-24 (79.2%) at the line. The Muskies shot 38.3% (23-of-60) from the floor, 23.1% (6-of-26) behind the arc and 83.3% (15-of-18) at the charity stripe.
The Pioneers won the battle of the boards, 44-35, including a 15-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Muskingum committed 15 turnovers, while the Pioneers turned the ball over only seven times.
Marietta is back in action after a short break for Christmas. The Pioneers travel to Phoenix, Arizona to play in the D3 Desert Invitational. Marietta opens against Elmhurst College at 10:15 pm on Friday, December 28th.
Fans can follow all of 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.
