MARIETTA, Ohio —
Jac Alexander (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) hit a pair of free throws with seven seconds left in regulation sending the game into overtime where Marietta College held on to defeat Lancaster Bible College, 99-97, Wednesday (Dec. 20) afternoon in the Puerto Rico Classic. The Pioneers head into the New Year with a 9-2 overall record. Lancaster Bible falls to 4-8 on the season.
Alexander finished with a career-high 29 points to lead the Pioneers. The MC point guard scored Marietta's first two points in overtime and added a three-pointer in the extra period giving the Pioneers a four-point lead, 96-92, with just over a minute left on the clock.
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) converted two free throws and
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) made one of two at the charity stripe in the final seconds of the game as Marietta kept the Chargers from stealing a victory.
After trading baskets and small leads through the first several minutes of the game, Lancaster Bible got a layup from Isaiah Mitchell to take an 8-7 lead at the 15:43 mark. The Chargers maintained a lead until a jumper from Parrott tied the game, 38-38, with 3:28 left in the first half.
Willoughby gave the Pioneers the lead with two free throws a minute later. Marietta took a 43-40 advantage into halftime.
Lancaster Bible's Connor Storr opened the second half with a quick three-pointer to tie the game. Marietta answered with seven straight points for a 50-43 lead. An Alexander three-pointer and layup were sandwiched around a
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) layup during the quick run.
Marietta gradually increased its lead. An old-fashioned three-point play from
David Sanford (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) with 14:07 left in the second half gave the Pioneers their biggest lead of the game, 61-50. Lancaster Bible answered back with the next nine points cutting the deficit to two points, 61-59.
The Pioneers responded with an 8-3 spurt pushing the lead back to seven points only to have the Chargers battle back with 10 consecutive points to reclaim the lead, 72-69, with five minutes left on the clock. Several lead changes down the stretch set the scene for Alexander's free throws with seven seconds left.
Overtime turned into a free throw shooting contest. Other than three-pointer from Sanford and Alexander, every other point was scored at the free throw line, including all 12 of Lancaster Bible's overtime points.
Marietta led by four points, 98-94, following two free throws from Willoughby with 36 seconds left on the clock. On the next possession, the Pioneers were whistled for a foul on an LBC three-point attempt sending Luke Rumbaugh to the line for three free throws. He converted all of them cutting the Marietta lead to one, 98-97.
Marietta turned the ball over on its next possession giving the Chargers a chance to take the lead. Grant Sareyka missed a jumper but Mitchell grabbed the offensive rebound. Mitchell's layup rimmed out and Parrott came down with the rebound and was quickly fouled with six seconds left. Parrott converted one of two free throws for a 99-97 Pioneer lead. Lancaster Bible's last second shot was off the mark as the buzzer sounded.
Alexander hit five three-pointers and was 8-for-8 at the line in his 29-point effort. He also grabbed five rebounds. Sanford and
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) each made three from behind the arc and finished with 16 points apiece. Willoughby notched a double-double with 12 points and 14 boards.
Sareyka led all scorers with 30 points for the Chargers. Storr finished with 19 points, while Rumbaugh and Seth Beers added 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Marietta is off until the New Year. The Pioneers hosts rival Muskingum University on Wednesday, January 3rd. Tip-off in Ban Johnson Arena is set for 7:00 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 X and Instagram.
