MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's basketball team knocked off No. 22 ranked Mount Union by the score of 87-72 Wednesday (Feb. 14) evening in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers improve to 15-9 overall and 9-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Unions falls to 18-6 on the season and 11-6 in conference play.
Mount Union scored the first five points of the game and held the lead through the first 13 minutes of the game. The Purple Raiders led by as many as eight points in the first half. Marietta used a 7-0 run to get within one point, 28-27, with 8:50 left in the opening period.
Following a Mount Union bucket,
Jac Alexander (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) sank two free throws after a Purple Raider technical foul and then
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) hit a jumper to give Marietta its first lead of the night, 31-10.
The teams traded small leads over the next five minutes. A three-pointer from
David Sanford (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) at the 2:03 mark put the Pioneers in front, 42-40. Marietta would not relinquish the lead again and took a 46-40 advantage into halftime.
Clinging to a three-point lead, Marietta went on a 7-0 run pushing the margin to 10 points, 64-54, with 11:26 left in the game. Alexander hit a three-pointer and a jumper during the run. Mount Union closed to within six points, 68-62, before Marietta scored 12 straight points.
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) nailed a pair of three-pointers in the run.
Another Sanford three-pointer in the final 30 seconds of the game extended the Pioneers lead to 18 points, 87-69. Christian Parker hit a triple for the Purple Raiders for the final 87-72 score.
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) led the Pioneers with 18 points. Alexander and Willoughby scored 15 points each, while Sanford finished with 14 points.
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Parker paced Mount Union with a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds. Darrell Newsome scored 15 points and Corey Hudson finished with 14 points. Collen Gurley chipped in with 10 points.
Marietta closes out the regular season at home on Saturday (Feb. 17) against Baldwin Wallace University. 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.
