OWINGS MILLS, Md. — In the feature game of the Hoopsville National Invitational Classic No. 17 Marietta College sailed past the No. 2 ranked Captains of Christopher Newport University by the score of 74-50 Saturday (Nov. 19) evening on the campus of Stevenson University.

"This was a great weekend for us," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "We came down here because we wanted to test ourselves against national championship caliber teams. We proved to ourselves we belong in that group and that's something we can build on."

Christopher Newport (2-1 overall) hit a trio of three-pointers in the opening minutes of the game to grab an early 10-4 lead. But Marietta quickly knotted the game at 10-10 with layups from Kyle Dixon, Dillon Young and A.J. Edwards.

The Pioneers (3-0 overall) took its first lead of the night, 16-13, on a three-ball from Keith Richardson at the 10:51 mark. Marietta would not trail again in the game.

Rayshard Brown converted a pair of free throws with 3:08 left in the first half to tie the game, 25-25. The Captains' momentum was short lived as Dixon nailed two three-pointers and Edwards had another layup as Marietta closed the half with an 8-0 run to lead 33-25 at the break.

Richardson led all scorers with 18 points. Edwards finished with 15 points and nine boards, while Dixon chipped in with 13 points and nine rebounds.

Marietta's defense limited CNU All-American Marcus Carter to just eight points. The Captains struggled to shoot the ball all night connecting on only 27% of their shot attempts in the first half and 26% in the second.

The Pioneers set the tone right from the start of the second half scoring the first seven points of the period pushing the margin to 15 points, 40-25.

Marietta put the game out of reach with an 8-0 run midway through the half. Richardson provided the exclamation mark with a three-pointer at the 10:27 mark for a 60-36 Pioneer lead.

A 10-0 Marietta run ballooned the margin to as many as 33 points, 73-40, with less than five minutes remaining.

Brown was the lone Captain to reach double figures finishing with 12 points. Carter and Aaron McFarland each chipped in with eight points.

For the game, Marietta shot 35.5% (22-of-62) from the floor, 30.0% (9-of-30) from three-point range and 84.0% (21-of-25) at the free throw line. Christopher Newport was 16-of-61 (26.2%) from the floor, 6-of-24 (25.0%) behind the arc and 12-of-17 (70.6%) at the line.

Marietta edged CNU on the glass, 45-39. The Pioneers forced 12 Captain turnovers, while committing just nine.

Marietta returns home to host the College of Wooster, ranked No. 7 nationally, on Wednesday (Nov. 23) at 6 p.m.