ALLIANCE, Ohio – The 6th ranked Marietta College men's basketball team fell 107-70 on the road to the University of Mount Union on Wednesday (Jan. 22) evening. The Pioneers fall to 14-2 overall and 8-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, and the Purple Raiders are now 13-3 overall and 8-1 in the OAC.
After a three from Mount Union on its opening possession, Marietta opened up a 7-0 run to notch an early 7-3 edge.
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) scored the first five points of the run and
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) capped the run with a dunk.
The Purple Raiders answered with a 9-0 run of their own and took a 12-7 advantage which forced a Pioneer timeout five minutes into the game. Out of the break, Mount Union pushed the margin to 26-17 forcing another Marietta timeout at the 8:46 mark.
Mount Union was able to hold a double-digit edge through the remainder of the first half and led, 52-37, at the break. The Pioneers were led by Kreeger, who had 12 first half points.
Each team scored on their opening possession of the second half, including a Marietta dunk from Kreeger. The Purple Raiders stretched out their lead behind an 8-1 spurt, to take a 60-45 edge four minutes into the final period.
The Pioneers continued to battle through the middle of the second half but were unable to cut into the Mount Union lead, and the Purple Raiders held an 89-57 advantage with eight minutes left in the game. Marietta could not muster any momentum and fell, 107-70.
The Pioneers were led by Lydic with a career high 20 points, and three rebounds. Kreeger added 15 points, and a team leading five rebounds.
Nathan Bower-Malone hit eight three-pointers and paced Mount Union with 36 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Collen Gurley finished with 23 points on seven triples. D'Vontay Friga added 14 points and Tanner Slack had 11 points.
Marietta will return to the court Saturday (Jan. 25) when they host OAC opponent Baldwin Wallace University, with tip off scheduled for 3 p.m.
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.
