NEW CONCORD, Ohio — Two free throws from
Lovenson Xavier (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) with two seconds left on the clock sealed a 68-65 victory for Marietta College Wednesday (Feb. 1) at Muskingum University. The Pioneers improved to 13-7 overall and 8-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Muskingum falls to 1-19 overall and 1-12 in the OAC.
"We struggled to make offensive plays today and it almost cost us," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "Obviously we are happy to get the win, but we need to play a lot better in our upcoming games. Give Muskingum credit, it's been a long season for them, but they are still fighting and competing."
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) hit a three-pointer to give Marietta a 13-point lead, 65-52, with 4:23 left in the game. The Muskies scored the next eight points and finished off a 13-1 run with a triple from DJ Donnell to get within one, 66-65, with 24 seconds on the clock.
Muskingum was forced to foul, and
David Sanford (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) missed the front end of a one-and-one. Bradley Russell grabbed the rebound for the Muskies but Duane Davis missed the go ahead layup. Xavier pulled down the rebound and was quickly fouled. Xavier hit both free throws to secure the 68-65 win.
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) sank four three-pointers and led all scorers with 19 points.
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) hit three shots from behind the arc to finish with nine points and six rebounds. Xavier added nine points and five boards, while
Ethan Andersen (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) had eight points and five caroms.
Donnell led the Muskies with 14 points. Kaelan Pulliam chipped in with 10 points.Davis finished with nine points and six rebounds, while Noah Begue added nine points.
Andersen scored the first basket of the game, but Muskingum tallied the next 10 points for an early eight-point lead. The Pioneers slowly chipped away at the deficit and a three-pointer from
Ryan Magill (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield Union) at the 12:46 mark gave Marietta the lead, 15-13. The Pioneers led 37-31 at halftime.
Following a three-pointer from Begue to open the second half, Marietta went on a 9-0 run building a 12-point lead, 46-34, five minutes into the period. Three-pointers from Parrott and Xavier highlighted the run.
Jac Alexander (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) drained a three-pointer at the 7:42 mark pushing the Marietta advantage to 15 points, 59-44, before the Muskies battled back taking the game down to the final seconds.
Marietta travels to University Heights on Saturday (Feb. 4) for a game against No. 7 ranked John Carroll University. Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m.
Fans can follow all 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.
