NEW CONCORD, Ohio — Marietta College erased a double-digit deficit and then held off a pesky Muskingum College squad for a 69-65 win Wednesday (Jan. 24) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball action. The Pioneers improve to 13-5 overall and 7-4 in the OAC. Muskingum falls to 5-13 on the season and 1-10 in the OAC.
"Give Muskingum credit. That was the toughest environment we've played in all year and they played their tails off," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "After a miserable start we settled in but knew we were in for a battle all night. Ultimately, we survived and that's what you need to do in the OAC!"
Muskingum raced out to a 15-0 lead as the Pioneers missed their first 13 shots of the game. Following a layup from Logan Stotzer at the 9:41 mark, the Muskies still held a 15-point lead, 21-6.
Marietta scored the next 18 points taking a 24-21 lead with 4:32 left in the first half.
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) scored the first five points of the run, but the rest of the scoring was spread between six other Pioneers.
A three-pointer from
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) with just under three minutes remaining in the period gave Marietta its biggest lead of the half, 29-24. The Muskies finished with a 7-0 run to take a 31-29 lead into halftime.
The teams traded small leads through the first eight minutes of the second half. A Muskie layup from Duane Davis tied the game, 46-46, with 12:06 left in the game. Four minutes later, Muskingum had slowly built a nine-point lead, 58-49. Davis scored six points during the run.
Trailing 60-51, Marietta got a layup from
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) and a three-pointer from Price to quickly cut the deficit to four points. Following a Muskie bucket, Marietta scored 11 straight points to take a five-point lead, 67-62, with just 16 seconds left in the game.
A three-pointer from
David Sanford (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) tied the game, 62-62. He then stole the ball on the next Muskie possession. Muskingum fouled Alexander who hit the first free throw. He missed the second, but Willoughby grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Willoughby made both free throws making it 65-62,
Muskingum missed a shot on the ensuing possession and
Ethan Andersen (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) secured the rebound for the Pioneers. The Muskies were forced to foul and Alexander converted both throws for the 67-62 lead with 16 seconds left.
Alexander and Willoughby made free throws in the final seconds to secure the win for Marietta.
Alexander led the Pioneers with 16 points. Price added 12 points, while Willoughby notched another double-double, his seventh in the last eight games, with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Sanford chipped in with nine points.
Owen Emig led the Muskies with 17 points. Davis finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Nathan Walker added 10 points and five boards.
Marietta returns home to host Wilmington College on Saturday (Jan. 27). Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Ban Johnson Arena.
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.
