MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire by the score of 64-62 Friday (Nov. 15) evening in the first round of the 53rd annual Marietta Shrine Tournament sponsored by BSN Sport. The Pioneers improve to 2-0 on the season, while Eau Claire falls to 1-2 overall.
"What a great shot from De'Ovion (Price) to win the game. He did such a good job of getting to the basketball all night," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "This was a good win for us. We didn't shoot the ball well in the first half, but regrouped and got the job done in the second half."
With the game tied, 62-62, Eau Claire missed a three-pointer and
Landry Palata (St. Mary's, W.Va./Teays Valley Christian) grabbed the rebound for the Pioneers. VanderWal called a timeout to set up the final possession.
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) brought the ball across midcourt and held the ball for the last shot. Price drove down the side of the lane and floated a shot off the backboard and in for the win. Eau Claire's last second shot was way off the mark.
Marietta struggled to put the ball in the basket in the first half. The Pioneers shot just 29% from the floor and 25% from three-point range in the first 20 minutes. While MC was struggling, Eau Claire drained seven three-pointers in the first half and led by 10, 34-24, at halftime.
The Blugolds opened the second half with a trifecta from Drew Maloney pushing the margin to 13 points. Marietta responded with 10 straight points to get within three points, 37-34.
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) started the run with a three-pointer. He added a layup, while
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) nailed a three-pointer and Palata capped the run with a layup.
Eau Claire maintained a small lead until a layup from Price with 4:10 left in the game gave Marietta the lead, 55-54. The final four minutes saw four ties and four lead changes as the team's traded baskets.
Cade Hall sank a three-pointer giving Eau Claire the lead, 62-60, with 1:21 left. But a steal and breakaway dunk from Palata evened the score with 51 seconds on the clock setting up the final possessions of the game.
Bradshaw led the Pioneers with a double-double. He finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Price and Palata each chipped in with 12 points. Palata added three blocks, while
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) grabbed seven boards.
Hall notched a double-double for the Blugolds with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Carter Huschka added 11 points and eight boards.
In the first game of the Shrine Tournament, Mary Washington defeated Maryville College by the score of 84-58.
Eau Claire and Maryville will play in the consolation game on Saturday (Nov. 16) at 5:00 p.m. Marietta and Mary Washington will face off in the championship game at 7:00 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 X and Instagram.
