BEXLEY — Capital defeated Marietta College by the score of 95-87 Saturday afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball. The loss drops Marietta to 5-4 overall and 1-1 in the OAC. The Comets improve to 5-3 overall and are also 1-1 in league play.

Marietta scored the first four points of the game and held a small lead until Se’Ron Calloway-White hit a pair of free throws giving Capital a 10-9 lead six minutes into the game. Elijah Harden responded with three straight three-pointers to put the Pioneers back in front, 18-10, with 12:24 left in the half.

Trailing 28-20, the Comets went on a 11-1 run to retake the lead, 31-29 with five minutes left in the period. Torrien Perkins sparked the run with an old-fashioned three-point play. Two buckets from Calloway-White, one from Dallas Tucker and two free throws from Julian Mitchell accounted for the Comet points.

Capital built an eight-point lead only to see the Pioneers trim it to one, 41-40, at halftime. Darius Carden drained a pair of three-pointers to cut the Capital lead to a single point.

Capital opened the second half with a layup and free throw from McKane Finkenbine and never trailed. Marietta kept the Comets close, never trailing by more than eight points. The Pioneers got within two points nine times in the half but couldn’t get any closer.

Of the nine times Marietta cut the lead to two, Capital scored on the following possession seven times. The Pioneers managed stops on the defensive end just twice and couldn’t capitalize on either opportunity to tie or take the lead.

Harden led all scorers with 30 points, including five three-pointers. This was the senior’s third 30-point game of the season. Jake Singleton drained six triples and finished with 22 points. Carden had 11 points and five rebounds, while Deuce Blake grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Finkenbine led the Comets with 25 points, including six three-pointers. Tucker finished with 17 points and seven assists, while Calloway-White added 16 points and eight boards. Julian Mitchell chipped in with 13 points and Chris Mitchell had 10m points and nine rebounds.

Marietta travels to Otterbein on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off.

WOMEN

COLUMBUS — The Marietta College women’s basketball team played well, but a costly third quarter was the difference as the Pioneers dropped a close conference matchup to Capital University, 59-58, on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers dropped to 4-5 overall and 0-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Capital improves to 8-0 overall and 2-0 in the OAC.

“I’m proud of the heart and grit we showed tonight,” Marietta head coach Jenna Andersen said. “We played so tough, just couldn’t get the last shot to fall. We are getting better every game, and we will keep working every day to make improvements and adjustments.”

Marietta was able to find the scoreboard first as Kelsey Harlan nailed a jumper and TJ Carpenter followed with a layup to give the Pioneers a quick 4-0 lead. The Comets fought back to tie as Kendall Spreen hit from beyond the arc and, after Kya Jordan hit a mid-range jumper of her own, Capital led for the first time, 12-10. Capital extended the lead with another three from Spreen, but the Pioneers fought back with a pair of layups from Harlan and closed out the quarter with a shot from the paint by Amelia Uhrig, giving Marietta a 16-15 lead going into the second period.

The second quarter saw five lead changes and two ties in the first five minutes as the Pioneers got key buckets from Harlan, Uhrig, and Sarah Podkul to keep the contest close. Late in the period, Harlan scored on a driving layup with :26 seconds remaining and Marietta led 26-24 going into intermission.

Marietta hit pair of shots to begin the third, but Capital went on a 17-2 run to retake the lead and push out to a 12-point advantage. Abby Garner stopped the momentum with a three-pointer with 2:30 remaining, getting the Pioneers back on track. Kendall Sury got a big layup a minute later to cut the lead to five and closed out the period with a shot from the paint in the final seconds to cut the Comet lead to 46-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

Marietta got the first two baskets to fall in the fourth quarter and found themselves back in the lead. After some traded shots, Capital got a huge three-pointer from Jordan at the 5:20 mark to put the Comets back into the lead by one. Two minutes later, the lead swapped again as Sury converted a layup to give the Pioneers a late lead. On the next possession, the Comets got a huge offensive rebound and putback from Samaree Perkins to give them a one-point advantage. The Pioneers had four opportunities in the closing moments but could not get another shot to fall and Capital would squeak out a 59-58 victory.

Sury and Harlan both led the Pioneers with 12 points apiece with Sury getting her first collegiate double-double, collecting 10 rebounds. Uhrig and Carpenter finished with 10 points apiece with Carpenter leading the team with four assists.

Perkins also had a double-double as she led the Comets with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Tahirah Ellis also scored 17 points and dished out three assists

Marietta returns to the road as they battle Baldwin Wallace in a rare Sunday afternoon matchup. The tip-off is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.