MARIETTA, Ohio — Muskingum University overcame a seven-point halftime deficit and some foul trouble to beat Marietta College, 82-77, Wednesday (Jan. 15) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball action. The Pioneers fall to 8-6 overall and 2-5 in the OAC. Muskingum is 8-6 on the season and 6-1 in the OAC.
Muskingum scored the first five points of the second half on a layup and a three-pointer from Zaveon Croff. The Pioneers quickly regrouped and maintained a small lead through the first six minutes of the second half.
The Muskies used a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the second half, 52-50, with 13:49 left in the game. Layups from Alieu Ceesay and DJ Fowler and a pair of free throws from Nathan Walker accounted for the Muskie points.
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) drained a three-pointer to give Marietta a 61-58 lead with 8:43 on the clock. But Muskingum answered with a triple from Croff and a jumper from Duane Davis to retake the lead.
Landry Palata (St. Mary's, W.Va./Teays Valley Christian) converted a pair of free throws to tie the game at 63-63, with just over six minutes remaining.
Muskingum took control of the game with a 9-2 run over the next two minutes. Duane Davis scored eight straight points for the Muskies building a seven-point lead, 72-65. Davis led all scorers with 24 points to go along with six rebounds.
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye) gave the Pioneers a chance when he scored five straight points to pull Marietta within one, 76-75, with 33 seconds left on the clock. Flood hit a pair of free throws and then recorded an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a one-point game.
Forced to foul down the stretch, Muskingum made six of eight free throws to secure the victory.
Bradshaw and Flood led the Pioneers with 15 points each. Palata finished with 10 points, while
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) had nine points and 11 rebounds.
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) added nine points and seven rebounds.
In addition to Davis, Nathan Walker had 16 points, while Luken Hill and Croff chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Marietta plays at Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday (Jan. 18) at 3:00 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.
