MARIETTA, Ohio — The No. 13 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team stayed perfect on the season with a convincing 87-68 win over visiting Baldwin Wallace University Saturday (Dec. 8) afternoon in Ban Johnson Arena.

The Pioneers improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Marietta has won its first eight games of the season for just the fourth time in program history. Baldwin Wallace falls to 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in conference play.

Marietta opened the game on a quick 8-2 run two minutes into the game. Kyle Dixon and Tim Kreeger led the Pioneer's fast start with four points each. Baldwin Wallace responded with a 7-1 run to tie the game, 9-9, at the 16:30 mark of the first half. That would be the closest BW would get as Marietta never trailed in the contest.

A Dixon jumper halted the Yellow Jacket run and started an 11-2 spurt for the Pioneers. Jason Ellis poured in seven points during the run as Marietta pushed its lead to 11 points, 22-11. The Pioneers maintained the margin and entered the intermission ahead 44-33.

Kreeger paced Marietta in the first half with 10 points and six rebounds. The Pioneers shot the ball well sinking 59.4% from the floor. Marietta forced seven BW turnovers and only committed a pair.

Baldwin Wallace regrouped at halftime and cut the Pioneer lead to 48-41 four minutes into the second half. Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal called a quick timeout and pushed the margin back into double-digits on a pair of Ellis three-pointers.

Marietta stretched its lead to 15 points only to see the Yellow Jackets respond with six straight points cutting the Pioneers lead to nine, 65-56, and forcing another MC timeout with under seven minutes remaining in the game.

After the break, the Pioneers went on an 11-1 run and took a 76-57 edge with just under five minutes left in the game. The run was propelled by Anthony Wallace as he scored six of the 11 points. Marietta closed out the game with three steals in the final two minutes of the game to seal the victory.

The Pioneers were led by Kreeger's first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  Dixon added 13 points, and grabbed five rebounds.  Ellis scored 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc and Wallace chipped in with 11 points.

Michael Quiring led Baldwin Wallace with 18 points. Kyle Nader scored 13 points and Tyler Colombo finished with 11 markers. Jack Lostoski grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

For the game, Marietta was 34-of-58 (58.6%) from the floor, 5-of-17 (29.4%) from three-point range and 14-of-20 (70.0%) at the free throw line. The Yellow Jackets shot 40.3% (25-of-62) from the floor, 23.1% (6-of-26) behind the arc and 50.0% (12-of-24) at the line.

Each team pulled down 35 rebounds in the game. Baldwin Wallace turned the ball over 12 times, while the Pioneers committed 10 turnovers.

Marietta will return to the hardwood Saturday (Dec. 15) when they host Wilmington College with the game set to tip at 3 p.m.