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Pioneers win 7th straight

ALLIANCE — All-American A.J. Edwards scored an old-fashioned three-point play in the final minute as No. 13 ranked Marietta College held off the University of Mount Union for a 82-75 victory Wednesday evening.

The Pioneers remain tied atop the Ohio Athletic Conference standings with Ohio Northern University at 11-2. Marietta improved to 16-4 overall. The Purple Raiders fall to 11-9 overall and 6-7 in the OAC.

Edwards led the Pioneers with 23 points marking the fifth time in the last six games he has scored over 20 points. The senior also notched his eighth double-double of the season with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Anthony Wallace finished with 18 points and eight boards. Kyle Dixon chipped in with 13 markers, while Dillon Young and RaNeal Ewing tallied 10 points each.

Jeff Foreman paced the Purple Raiders with 16 points. Nathan Bower-Malone and DeAllen Jackson had 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jackson grabbed a team-best six rebounds. JJ Kukura finished with 11 points.

Mount Union’s early lead was short-lived as a Young three-pointer put the Pioneers on top, 10-9, with 15:23 left in the opening period. Marietta used a 13-0 run to push its leads to 32-19 with just over six minutes left in the half.

The Pioneers led 45-26 at the break.

Marietta extended the lead to 24 points, 57-33, on a layup from Ewing at the 15:20 mark. Mount Union quickly answered with a 10-0 run to make it 57-43, with 13:30 left to play.

The Purple Raiders continued their comeback bid with back-to-back three-pointers from Jackson and Tommy Stenger cutting the Pioneer lead to three, 71-68, with 3:44 left on the clock.

Mount Union would eventually tie the game at 73-73 and again at 75-75, before Edwards three-point play put the Pioneers on top for good. Wallace hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to secure the victory.

For the game, Marietta shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the floor, 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from three-point range and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) at the free throw line. Mount Union was 28-of-65 (43.1 percent) from the floor, 14-of-37 (37.8 percent) behind the arc and 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) at the line.

Marietta won the battle of the boards, 40-34. The Purple Raiders turned the ball over 17 times, while Marietta committed 13 turnovers.

Marietta travels to Tiffin on Saturday (Feb. 4) for a 3 p.m. game at Heidelberg University.

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