MARIETTA, Ohio —
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) converted three of four free throws in the final 11 seconds as Marietta College defeated the University of Mary Washington by the score of 87-82 Saturday (Nov. 16) evening in the championship game of 53rd annual Marietta Shrine Tournament sponsored by BSN Sports. The Pioneers improve to 3-0 on the season. Mary Washington moves to 2-2 overall.
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye) came off the bench in the first half and scored 12 straight points on four three-pointers in a matter of two minutes. Flood's barrage turned a five-point deficit into a seven-point lead, 22-15, for the Pioneers.
Marietta eventually extended the lead to 10 points on a free throw from Carden with 8:28 left in the first half. The Eagles answered with six straight points cutting the margin to four points. The scored remained close the rest of the half and Marietta took a 39-37 lead into halftime.
In a game that featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes,
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) hit a three-pointer with 11:12 left in the game to give Marietta the lead, 58-57. The Pioneers would not relinquish the lead the rest of the night.
Another triple from Flood pushed the margin back to seven points, 83-76, with two minutes left on the clock. Mary Washington got within two, 84-82, on a layup from Kaden Bates with 19 seconds left on the clock.
Mary Washington was forced to foul and Carden converted three of four from the charity stripe to secure the win.
Bradshaw earned the Cliff Rose Most Valuable Player Award after scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) earned All-Tournament honors with 16 points and nine rebounds. Flood finished with 15 points, while
Landry Palata (St. Mary's, W.Va./Teays Valley Christian) had 12 points and Carden chipped in with 11 points.
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) added 10 points.
Zack Blue led all scorers with 24 points and six three-pointers. Kye Robinson finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. Blue and Robinson both earned All-Tournament honors.
Marietta travels to Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Great Lakes Invitational on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 22-23). The Pioneers play Wisconsin-La Crosse at 1:00 p.m. on Friday and Hope College at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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.
