UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — Marietta College comeback bid fell short as the Pioneers lost at John Carroll University by the score of 78-74 Saturday (Dec. 14) afternoon in men's basketball action. The Pioneers move to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. John Carroll improves to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the OAC.
Marietta got a quick bucket from
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) and a three-pointer from
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) for an early 5-0 lead. The lead was short-lived as Luke Frazier drained a triple for the Blue Streaks giving John Carroll an 8-7 lead with 14:05 left in the first period. JCU would not trail again in the game.
Will Yontek hit a jumper with two minutes left in the first half giving the Blue Streaks their biggest lead of the half, 44-29. JCU took a 46-32 lead into halftime.
The Pioneers slowly chipped away at the JCU lead in the second half. A layup from
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) with 8:13 left on the clock got Marietta within a point, 61-60. However, John Carroll responded with eight straight points pushing the margin back to nine, 69-60, with five minutes left.
Marietta cut the deficit to five several times in the final minutes and a pair of Carden free throws with 10 seconds left on the clock cut the margin to three, 77-74. But the Pioneers could get no closer and JCU sealed the 78-74 victory.
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) led the Pioneers with 16 points and eight rebounds. Carden finished with 14 points and six boards, while
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) chipped in with 10 points.
Frazier led all scorers with 27 points and added seven rebounds. Kasey Hunt finished with 15 points, while Yontek had 11 points and 11 boards.
Marietta returns home to host Otterbein University on Tuesday (Dec. 17) at 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.
