MARIETTA, Ohio — In a battle of nationally ranked opponents, No. 8 Marietta College turned a close game into a lopsided victory as the Pioneers blew out No. 14 Mount Union, 84-59, Wednesday (Jan. 12) evening in Ban Johnson Arena.
The Pioneers improve to 11-2 on the season and 6-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union falls to 10-2 overall and 4-2 in conference games.
"Our guys really wanted it tonight. This group feels like they have something to prove, and we have been really dialed in at practice," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "We struggled at first to make a basket going 1-for-9 from three-pointer range in the first half. In the second half we settled in and played a lot better."
Mount Union's Christian Parker scored on a layup to make it 46-45 in favor of the Pioneers at the 16:08 mark of the second half. That would be the Purple Raiders last field goal for over 10 minutes as Marietta went on a 22-1 run putting the game out of reach.
Ethan Stanislawski hit a three-pointer with 6:06 left in the game to end the Purple Raider drought. But the damage was done. Mount Union would get no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) put an exclamation point on the night when he drained a three-pointer with eight seconds left giving Marietta its biggest lead of the game, 25 points, 84-59.
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding), the current OAC Player of the Week, led the Pioneers with 20 points. He dished out five assists and had three steals.
Brennen Crawford (Pittsburgh, Pa./Kiski School) finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) added 11 points and three boards.
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) and
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) each scored nine points for Marietta. Lydic had five rebounds and Willoughby grabbed four boards.
Lukas Isaly (Clarington, Ohio/River) pulled down a team-high six rebounds and also dished out five assists.
The game started slow with neither team leading by more than three points in the first 15 minutes of the game. Marietta used a 10-4 run to build an eight-point lead, 38-30, on an Ellis jumper with 32 seconds remaining.
Stanislawski hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a five-point game, 38-33, at halftime.
Two free throws from Braedon Poole and a three-pointer from Darrell Newsom to start the second half tied the game, 38-38, one minute into the second half.
Marietta responded with four quick points on baskets from Ellis and Lydic and eventually pushed the lead to five points. A Stanislawski layup and one from Parker made it 46-45 in favor of Marietta with 16:08 left in the game.
Stanislawski led Mount Union with 19 points and five assists. Parker had 15 points and eight rebounds, while Newsom finished with 10 points.
Marietta hosts No. 19 ranked Heidelberg University on Saturday (Jan. 15). Tip-off in Ban Johnson Arena is set for 4 p.m.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
