Pioneers defeat Messiah to kick off Puerto Rico trip
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GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico -- Marietta College opened the Puerto Rico Classic with a 76-67 win over Messiah University Tuesday afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 8-1 on the season, while Messiah falls to 3-7 overall.
After trading small leads through the early minutes of the game, David Sanford converted one of two free throws to tie the game, 13-13, at the 13:39 mark. The Falcons scored the next eight points building the first significant lead of the game. Messiah pushed the margin to nine points on a layup from Dylan Cuperus midway through the period to make it 25-16.
Jac Alexander triggered an 11-0 Pioneer run with six straight points. Jack Main drained a three-pointer and Sanford hit a jumper to give Marietta a 27-25 lead with 6:20 left in the first half.
A Messiah layup from Caleb Thompson tied the game, 29-29, with five minutes left on the clock. Once again Marietta went on a run to open its biggest lead of the half. A 13-4 spurt gave the Pioneers a nine-point lead, 42-33, with 64 seconds remaining in the first half. Marietta big man Frank Waganfeald capped the drive with one of his two three-pointers in the game. The Pioneers led 42-34 at halftime.
Marietta pushed its advantage to 12 points, 52-40, in the opening minutes of the second half. Jayden Bradshaw hit a three-pointer at the 14:29 mark to give the Pioneers the 12-point lead.
Over the next three-plus minutes the Falcons battled back to grab the lead. Messiah used a 16-2 run to take a two-point lead, 56-54, with 11 minutes left in the game. A three-pointer from Christian Jackson capped the run for the Falcons.
A layup from Alexander and a three-pointer and layup from Waganfeald put Marietta back in front for good. The Pioneers would go on a 17-2 run to take control of the game and go back on top by 13 points, 71-58, with just under four minutes left on the clock.
Messiah got a layup from Cole Fisher in the final seconds cutting the final margin to nine points, 76-67.
Alexander and De'Ovion Price led the Pioneers with 13 points apiece. Waganfeald added 10 points, while Main had seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Messiah had five players finish in double figures. Fisher, Cuperus, and Jackson each scored 11 points. Johnny McBride and Thompson finished with 10 points each.
Marietta will close out play in Puerto Rico against Lancaster Bible College on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. (EST).
WOMEN
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Marietta College women's basketball team lost 82-65 to Washington and Jefferson on Tuesday afternoon. With the loss the Pioneers fall to 6-3 overall, and with the win the Presidents improve to 9-1 overall.
Washington and Jefferson jumped out to a quick start in the first quarter, shooting 11-of-16 from the field and 5-of-9 from three point range. After the two teams traded baskets to start the period, the Presidents went on a 10-point run with four of the five Presidents starters hitting from the field. After Paige Tolson scored from the free throw line, Washington and Jefferson hit three consecutive jumpers to extend the lead to 21-3. With less than a minute in the period, Marietta started to get some rhythm back as Hannah Schill scored on a driving layup and Hannah Kroft scored on a layup and bonus free throw. The Pioneer five-point run put the score at 30-15 going into the second quarter.
It took nearly two minutes, but Marietta scored first in the second period off of a Makenzie Wilson layup. Kelly Levering followed with a three-pointer and Ally Grake scored on a layup to cut the Pioneer deficit to 30-22.
W&J's Sarah Berardelli answered with a layup and Adalynn Cherry nailed a three to push the lead back out to 13 points. Even though Washington and Jefferson did not shoot as well from the perimeter in the second period, they received two clutch treys from Stellanie Loutsion and Cherry to give them a 14-point cushion with two minutes remaining. The final points scored in the half were from a pull-up jumper from Grake and the Pioneers went into intermission with a 41-29 deficit.
Both teams picked up the pace in the third period. Jumpers from Olivia Gribble were answered by the continued hot shooting from three-point range by the Presidents, keeping the lead at double-figure. Kroft's driving layup at the 5:07 mark cut the lead to nine and Jenna Smith followed with a layup a minute later, putting Marietta down 54-47. The Presidents would close out the third on a 7-2 run and took a 61-49 lead into the fourth quarter.
Marietta started quick in the fourth period, getting a pair layups from Schill and a pair of free throws from Levering to cut the lead to six.
Later in the period, Loutsion and Berardelli scored on consecutive jumpers to push the lead back put to 68-56. At the 4:32 mark, Berardelli scored after missing two consecutive layups, but getting the offensive rebound each time. The Presidents would go on to score the next three buckets, pushing the lead to 20 points, and the Pioneers could not answer. The Presidents closed out with a 82-65 victory.
The Pioneers were led by Levering with 13 points and Gribble with 11 points. Wilson scored eight points and led the Pioneers with nine rebounds and four assists.
Marietta will return to the court after the Christmas holiday to host the 37th annual Jim Meagle Tournament.
On Friday, the Pioneers will play the final game of the day against Gettysburg College. On the following evening, Marietta will battle Oberlin College. Carnegie Mellon University, Mount Aloysius College, and Trine University are the others teams participating in the tournament.