MARIETTA, Ohio — Playing its first home game in over a month, the No. 24 Marietta College men's basketball team remained undefeated on the season with an 82-68 win over visiting John Carroll University Saturday (Dec. 20) afternoon.

The Pioneers took over sole possession of first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings with a 5-0 league record. Marietta is 10-0 on the season. John Carroll dropped to 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the OAC.

Coming into today's game, Marietta's top two scorers on the season were post players Eddy Grenert and Garrett Stephenson. However, the Blue Streak defense limited the Pioneers' touches in the paint. Marietta responded with a long-range aerial attack that JCU couldn't stop.

The Pioneers drained 16 three-pointers including 10 in the first half. Marietta shot better behind the arc than in front of it — 44.4% to 38.1%. Six different Pioneers hit a trey led by five each from RaNeal Ewing and Luis Garcia. Grenert and Stephenson each stepped outside and nailed a three-pointer as well.

Ewing led all scorers with 24 points. Garcia poured in 19 points and freshman Dillon Young chipped in with a career-high 14 points. Young and Stephenson each grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.

Jake Hollinger led three Blue Streaks in double figures with 15 points. David Hendrickson had 14 points and Ryan Farragher finished with 12 points.

Marietta jumped out to an early 12-4 lead less than three minutes into the game. John Carroll responded with a 12-0 run over the next seven minutes to take a 16-12 lead with 10:06 left in the half.

After trading the lead for several minutes, Young sank a three-pointer with 2:30 left in the opening period to give MC the lead, 32-29. The Pioneers would never trail again. Garcia hit a trey right before half to give Marietta a 39-33 advantage at the break.

The Pioneers quickly pushed the lead into double figures early in the second half. John Carroll managed to cut the deficit to five points, 55-50, with 12:36 left in the game. But Marietta with a 10-2 run pushing the margin to 13 points, 65-52, with just over nine minutes left. MC led by as many as 14 points down the stretch.

For the game, Marietta shot 42.1% (24-of-57) from the floor, 44.4% (16-of-36) from three-point range and 85.7% (18-of-21) at the line. John Carroll was 26-of-74 (35.1%) from the floor, 5-of-27 (18.5%) behind the arc and 11-of-13 (84.6%) at the line.

Once again, the Pioneers won the battle of the boards outrebounding JCU 49-33. The Blue Streaks' relentless defense forced 25 Marietta turnovers. John Carroll turned the ball over 14 times.

Marietta is back in action after Christmas when the Pioneers travel Miami, Fla. for a pair of games in the Adidas Holiday Slam. Marietta plays No. 19 Eastern Connecticut State University on Tuesday (Dec. 30) at 2:00 p.m. and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on Wednesday (Dec. 31) at 2:00 p.m.