WOOSTER, Ohio — No. 6 Marietta College couldn't overcome a cold shooting performance Saturday (Dec. 28) evening as Salisbury University knocked the Pioneers from the ranks of the unbeaten with an 88-80 victory in the first round of the Great Lakes Invitational.
Marietta struggled from behind the arc hitting just 1-of-19 three-pointers in the first half. The Sea Gulls grabbed the early lead and never trailed in the game.
Christian James (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) hit a jumper with 4:11 left in the first half to get the Pioneers within 10 points, 41-31.
However, Marietta went scoreless the rest of the period as Salisbury scored 14 straight points to take a 55-31 lead into halftime. D'Angelo Tull nailed a three-pointer to start the second half and give the Sea Gulls their biggest lead of the game, 27 points, 58-31.
Marietta cut the lead to seven points, 80-73, on a layup from
Karson Snyder (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg). But Salisbury pushed the margin back into double figures. James drained a three-pointer in the final seconds to make it 88-80 in favor of Salisbury.
Five Pioneers finished in double figures with James leading the way. Senior
Caleb Hoyng (Celina, Ohio/Celina) notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) added 13 points, while
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) and
Jake Montgomery (Westerville, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) each chipped in with 10 points.
The Sea Gulls were led by Gary Briddell's 35 points. Briddell made 12-of-13 from the floor including all five three-point attempts. Lucas Martin and Mike Ward scored 13 points each.
Marietta will play York College, an 87-77 winner over Ohio Wesleyan today, at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow in the second round of the Invitational.
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.
