MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College held off a late charge from No. 23 John Carroll University as the Pioneers downed the Blue Streaks, 72-65, Saturday (Feb. 1) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball action. Marietta improves to 10-9 overall and 4-8 in the OAC. John Carroll falls to 14-5 on the season and 9-3 in the OAC.
"We needed every point we could get to survive the second half. We knew John Carroll would come back, but we weathered the storm," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "Our kids stayed tough, and we got some stops down the stretch that we needed to get. We're just so happy to have a win and this is going to be some positive momentum moving forward for us."
Marietta opened the game with a layup from
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) and a three-pointer from
Jake Singleton (Senecaville, Ohio/Meadowbrook) for an early 5-0 lead. The Pioneers would lead the game for all but 15 seconds.
A layup from Will Yontek gave John Carroll its lone lead of the game, 8-7. Marietta responded with 11 straight points building a double-digit advantage, 18-8, with 11:56 left in the first half. Three-pointers from Waganfeald,
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) and
Ryan Magill (Lancaster, Ohio/Fairfield Union) sparked the Pioneer rally.
Another Waganfeald triple in the final seconds of the first half gave Marietta its biggest lead of the game, 42-28.
John Carroll scored the first five points of the second half trimming the deficit to nine points, 42-33. The Blue Streaks gradually cut away at the Pioneer lead and a jumper from Luke Frazier with 3:27 left on the clock made it a four-point game, 65-61.
After a pair of free throws from Price and back-to-back baskets from Yontek and Henry Raynor, Marietta's lead was down to two, 67-65, with 1:09 remaining.
A foul sent Flood to the line where he sank both free throws. John Carroll turned the ball over and was forced to foul Flood again. Flood converted one of two pushing the margin to five, 70-65, with 14 seconds left in the game.
The Blue Streaks missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and Flood sank two more free throws with four seconds on the clock as the Pioneers secured the 72-65 victory.
Flood, Price and Waganfeald each scored 14 points for the Pioneers.
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds.
Raynor, Yontek and Brandon Rose scored 12 points apiece for the Blue Streaks. Yontek notched a double-double with 10 boards.
Marietta plays at Otterbein University on Wednesday (Feb. 5) 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.
