SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Jai Guerra-Howard (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) scored with eight seconds left in the game to give Marietta College a 76-74 victory over Schreiner University (TX) Saturday (Dec. 20) afternoon in the first round of the Leslie Robinson Holiday Classic being hosted by Trinity University. The Pioneers improve to 6-5 on the season, while Schreiner falls to 4-5 overall.

"Today was a team win. Guys stepped up in big moments today; Luke (Powell), Trenton (Collins), and Ethan (Hann) to name a few," Marietta head coach Andy Bucheit said. "We did a better job of controlling the turnovers, blocking out, and our energy through adversity. We have had some challenging practices and the guys responded in practice and again today. I'm proud of our growth over the last three days."

Hayden Jarrett (Zanesville, Ohio/Maysville) hit a three-pointer eight minutes into the second half giving the Pioneers a 12-point lead, 60-48. Schreiner went on a 21-7 run to take the lead, 69-67, with 3:43 left on the clock. Camden Hyman triggered the Mountaineer run with a pair of three-pointers and eight of Schreiner's 21 points.

Back-to-back layups from Guerra-Howard put the Pioneers in front by two, 72-70. A bucket from Dylan Snow was followed by a pair of free throws from Elijah Harden (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) keeping the margin at two. Mario Johnson tied the game with a layup setting up Guerra-Howard's game-winning bucket.

After trading small leads in the opening minutes of the game, Marietta went on a 10-0 run to take a 37-23 lead with 3:56 left in the first half. Four different Pioneers scored during the run led by four points from Trenton Collins (Newark, Ohio/Utica). The Pioneers led by as many as 14 points and took an 11-point lead, 48-37, into halftime.

Harden led three Pioneers in double figures with 22 points. Luke Powell (St. Marys, W.Va./St. Marys) scored a career-high 15 points, while Guerra-Howard added 13 points and six rebounds. Collins chipped in with nine boards and eight points.  Jake Singleton (Senecaville, Ohio/Meadowbrook) finished with six points and eight rebounds.

Dylan Snow led all scorers with 24 points. Mario Johnson finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Justin Gooden and Camden Hyman chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

Marietta wraps up play in the Leslie Robinson Holiday Classic against No. 14 ranked University of St. Thomas (TX) on Sunday (Dec. 21) at 6:00 p.m. (EST).

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.