Marietta College Athletics

All-Tournament Team

Pioneers down Kenyon 85-74 to sweep Shrine Tournament

[Box Score]

MARIETTA, Ohio – Senior post Kevin Knab scored 20 points to lead the No. 6 ranked Marietta College men’s basketball team to 85-74 win over Kenyon College Sunday (Nov. 20) afternoon in the final game of the 41st annual Marietta Shrine Tournament.

“The difference in the game today was our second group,” said Pioneer head coach Jon VanderWal. “Our starting five came out a little sluggish and at one point our second group had something like 40 of our 51 points.”

Knab’s 20-point, eight rebound performance coupled with his 17 points in Friday’s win over Methodist was good enough to earn him Most Valuable Player honors for the second straight year.

“As the game went on Kevin ended up wearing them down,” said VanderWal. “They got into foul trouble so we were able to go down low into the post to Kevin.”

Joining Knab on the all-tournament team were fellow Pioneer teammates Scott Kimmey and J.J. Martin. Martin scored 15 points in the Kenyon win while Kimmey added five. Freshman guard Brennan McKean scored a career-high 15 points for the Pioneers (3-0) while senior post Conner Kilpatrick chipped in with 12 points and five boards.

“We had a bunch of different guys step up tonight,” said VanderWal. “J.J. Martin had a great game off the bench and freshman Brennan McKean knocked down some shots.”

Kenyon (2-1) was led by all-tournament selection Ikenna Nwadibia with a game-high 24 points and nine rebounds. Fellow all-tournament selection Julian Pavlin scored eight for the Lords.

Methodist University’s James Whitehead was the final member of the all-tournament team.

Kenyon was able to control the pace of play during most of the first half, holding the lead until 4:40 was left to play before halftime. A Kimmey fast break dunk followed by a Martin layup gave the Pioneers the lead 32-30 with 3:08 in the first half. Marietta led by six, 41-35 at the break.

Kenyon would get as close as two points in the second half, but Marietta was up to the task each time the Lords threatened to upset the Pioneers. The Marietta lead got as high as 22 points as the Pioneers would cruise down the stretch for 85-74 win.

Marietta finished the game shooting 51.4% (36-of-70) from the field, 42.9% (9-of-21) from behind the arc and 80% (4-of-5) from the charity stripe. Kenyon finished the game shooting 45.2% (28-of-62) from the field, 50% (8-of-16) from three and 76.9% (10-of-13) from the free throw line. Marietta held the edge in rebounding 36-34 and committed nine turnovers to Kenyon’s 14.

Marietta is back in action on Tuesday, November 29th when Wittenberg comes to Ban Johnson Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

Kenyon holds on to defeat Methodist
[Box Score]

MARIETTA, Ohio – The Lords of Kenyon College overcame a two-point halftime deficit to defeat Methodist University by the score of 79-77 in the 41st annual Marietta Shrine Tournament. Kenyon moves to 2-0 on the season while Methodist falls to 0-3.

Kenyon held a small lead for most of the first half including a seven-point edge, 32-25, with 4:52 left in the period. Methodist used an 8-0 run to take the lead 33-32 with just under two minutes remaining. The Monarchs went into the locker room with a 38-36 lead.

The first half was a showcase for a pair of sophomores. Methodist’s James Whitehead scored 16 points in the period and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. Brian Lebowitz paced Kenyon in the opening stanza with 15 points shooting 5-of-6 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.

Kenyon scored first in the second half to tie the game, 38-38. Methodist responded with a 10-2 run to take the biggest lead of the game, 48-40. The Lords battled right back to knot the score at 48 apiece.

The game stayed close the rest of the way four ties and seven lead changes. A layup by Methodist’s Blake Lanier tied the game, 77-77, with 12 seconds left. Following a timeout by the Lords, Ikenna Nwadibia hit a jumper with two ticks left on the clock to give Kenyon the win.

Whitehead led all scorers with 25 points. Terrell Stallings had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Mark Jernigan scored 10 points for Methodist.

Nwadibia led Kenyon with 18 points and nine boards. Lebowitz was blanked in the second half and ended the game with 15 points. Julian Pavlin added 14 points and Marcus Healey chipped in with 12.

Kenyon and Marietta will square off tomorrow at 4 p.m. for the Shrine Tournament Championship.

Strong second half propels Pioneers to victory over Methodist

[Box Score]

MARIETTA, Ohio, Ohio – Up only two at the half (37-35), Head Coach Jon VanderWal’s number six ranked Pioneers used a huge second half to run away with from the visiting Methodist University (N.C.) Monarchs by the score of 92-69 in the opening game of the 41st annual Marietta Shrine Tournament. The win puts the Pioneers at 2-0 on the season while Methodist falls to 0-2.

“We are getting better,” said VanderWal. “We didn’t shoot the ball very well in the first half, but still managed to have a two-point lead at halftime.”

The Monarchs gave the Pioneers all they could handle through the first half of play. Methodist led by seven early on, 15-8, with 13:54 to play in the first half. The Pioneers chipped away slowly and managed to take its first lead 20-19 with 9:30 to play before intermission. The teams would trade the lead back and forth for the next few minutes until Marietta led by five, 30-25 with 5:20 left to play before halftime. Methodist out scored Marietta 10-7 in final five minutes of the half to trail by only two, 37-35 a the break.

The second half proved to be much different as Marietta upped the pace to take Methodist off of its game. The Pioneer lead quickly escalated to 15 points, 55-40, just five minutes into the second half. Methodist fought back however; cutting the lead back down to seven at 61-54 with 11:45 to play in regulation. That’s as close the Monarchs would get as Marietta answered with a 15-2 run to push the lead to 20 with 7:24 to play. The lead extended to as much as 26 before Marietta cruised down the stretch to a 23-point, 92-69 win.

“We talked at halftime about being a little soft,” said VanderWal. “We reiterated our game plan and came out in the second half with extreme pressure and intensity on defense. Our pressure definitely wore them down.”

Junior guard Scott Kimmey came off the bench to explode for a game-high 27 point performance in the Pioneers home opener. The 27-point night was a career-high for Kimmey. Senior post Kevin Knab added 17 points including a game-high four steals. Sophomore guard Tyler Hammond added 13 points and three steals for Marietta while junior post J.J. Martin led Marietta with eight rebounds to go along with seven points.

Kyle Combs led four Methodist double-digit scorers with 15 points including a game-high 11 rebounds. Mark Jernigan added 14 points while James Whitehead scored 14. Bryan Hockaday added 12 points and six boards in the loss.

The Pioneers finished the game shooting 40.4% (36-of-89) from the field, 21.6% (8-of-37) from three and 85.7% (12-of-14) from the free throw line. Methodist finished the game shooting 47.3% (26-of-55) from the field, 54.5% (6-of-11) from behind the arc and 73.3% (11-of-15) from the free throw line. Methodist held a slim edge on the boards 44-42 but the Pioneer defense forced 28 turnovers to its seven.

Methodist will square off against Kenyon College on Saturday (Nov. 19) afternoon at 4 p.m. in game two of the Shrine Tournament. Marietta will then play Kenyon on Sunday (Nov. 20) at 4 p.m. in the three-team classic.

Pioneers set to host 41st annual Shrine Tournament

MARIETTA, Ohio – The No. 6-ranked Marietta College men’s basketball team opens its home schedule this weekend in the 41st annual Marietta Shrine Tournament sponsored by BSN Sports and the Marietta Holiday Inn. Methodist University and Kenyon College join the Pioneers in Ban Johnson Arena for three days of exciting action.

The tournament opens on Friday when the Pioneers take on Methodist at 7:30 p.m. Methodist and Kenyon square off at 4 p.m. on Saturday and the tournament wraps up Sunday with Marietta and Kenyon tipping off at 4 p.m.

The gates open each day 90 minutes before game time. Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. All proceeds from the tournament benefit the Marietta Shrine Club.

Marietta, fresh off a season-opening 64-58 win at Denison, is looking to defend their 2010 Shrine title. Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Jon VanderWal, the Pioneers are led by senior Kevin Knab, junior Jacob Owens and sophomore Tyler Hammond.

Knab, the reigning Shrine MVP, led Marietta with 15 points against Denison. Knab averaged 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game last season. Owens was 3-of-6 from three-point range and scored 12 points in the season-opener. A year ago, he averaged 6.9 points and shot nearly 39 percent from long range. Last season Hammond averaged 11.1 points and had a team-best 95 assists.

The Monarchs of Methodist University enter with a 0-1 record after dropping their opener to Guilford by the score of 65-53. Methodist returns four players with significant starting experience from last year’s 10-16 team. Head coach David Smith, in his 13th season, will look to seniors Mark Jernigan and Terrell Stallings to lead the Monarchs.

A 6-foot-3 guard, Jernigan led Methodist last season in scoring with 15.1 points per game. Stallings, also a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 6.0 points and 2.6 rebounds a year ago.

In the Monarchs opener against Guilford, sophomore guard James Whitehead led all scorers with 18 points. Sophomore forward Bryan Hockaday added 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Last year Hockaday averaged 11.4 points per game.

The Lords of Kenyon College let a 17-point second half lead slip away in their season-opener against Muskingum, but fought back to post a 71-69 overtime win. Kenyon went 9-16 last season for new head coach Dan Priest.

Now in his second season at the helm, Priest returns three starters this winter. 6-foot-6 sophomore forward/center Brian Lebowitz posted a double-double against the Muskies with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Last year, Lebowitz averaged 7.4 points and 5.5 rebounds. Junior Marcus Healey, a 6-foot-1 guard, added 15 points in the opener after averaging 8.3 points per game last season.