MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 5 ranked Mount Union led start to finish as the Purple Raider defeated Marietta College 87-72 Wednesday (Jan. 7) evening in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers fall to 6-8 overall and 1-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union is now 14-0 on the season and 5-0 in the OAC.
 
Mount Union raced out to an early 11-point lead, 17-6, six minutes into the game. A three-point play from Kevin Moore pushed the margin to 14 points, 27-13, midway through the period. 
 
Marietta responded with an 11-2 run cutting the deficit to five points, 29-24, with 6:08 left on the clock. Two Ben Solomon (Ann Arbor, Mich./Skyline) free throws started the rally. Luke Powell (St. Marys, W.Va./St. Marys) had a layup, while Jai Guerra-Howard (Lorain, Ohio/Lorain) added three buckets and Elijah Harden (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) drained a triple. The Purple Raiders gradually rebuilt their lead and took a 46-33 advantage into halftime.
 
Another Harden three-pointer cut the Mount Union lead to five, 56-51, six minutes into the second half. Back-to-back three-pointers from Chance Casenhiser pushed the lead back into double digits where it stayed for the remainder of the game.
 
Harden finished with four three-pointers and 21 points to lead Marietta. Guerra-Howard added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Jake Singleton (Senecaville, Ohio/Meadowbrook) chipped in with 13 points.
 
Casenhiser led all scorers with 27 points and dished out five assists. Elijah Farrington notched a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards. Kevin Hamilton and Caleb Laurich added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
 
Marietta plays at Heidelberg on Saturday (Jan. 10) at 1:00 p.m.
 
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.