MARIETTA, Ohio —
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye) came off the bench to lead Marietta College with 16 points as the Pioneers came from behind to beat Baldwin Wallace University, 70-68, Saturday (Jan. 18) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball action. The Pioneers improve to 9-6 on the season, while Baldwin Wallace falls to 7-8 overall. Both schools are 3-5 in the OAC.
"It's feels good to out of Berea with a win. It was a pretty solid effort for us defensively and on the glass," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "The offense struggled today but we made just enough plays down the stretch to hang on. We need to build off winning a close hard fought road game."
Flood drained a huge three-pointer with 1:37 left in the game to give Marietta a one-point lead, 67-66. The Pioneers got a stop on BW's next possession and
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) scored on a layup with 33 seconds remaining pushing the Pioneer lead to three, 69-66.
The Yellow jackets responded with a bucket from AJ Pestello to get within a point with 19 seconds on the clock. BW was forced to foul and put
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) on the line with 10 seconds left in the game. Carden missed the front end of the 1-and-1 giving BW a chance. Myles Reynolds missed a three-pointer and Flood grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 0.3 left on the clock.
Flood made the first free throw and missed the second on purpose running out the clock and preserving the 70-68 win for the Pioneers.
The teams traded small leads throughout the first half. Marietta built an eight-point lead, 28-20, with 5:31 remaining in the opening period. But Baldwin Wallace responded and cut the deficit to one, 32-31, at halftime.
Marietta maintained its small lead in the first 12 minutes of the second half The Yellow Jackets used a 10-4 run to even the score, 50-50, with 8:16 left in the game. BW got a triple from Reynolds to take a four-point lead, 64-60, setting up Flood's late game heroics.
Flood was 6-for-11 from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers and two free throws for his 16 points. Price finished with 13 points.
Landry Palata (St. Mary's, W.Va./Teays Valley Christian) notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) had 10 points and seven boards.
Ray Ellington had six three-pointers and led Baldwin Wallace with 22 points. Pestello finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Reynolds chipped in with nine points.
Marietta travels to Columbus on Wednesday (Jan. 22) for a 7:00 p.m. game at Capital University.
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.
