WILMINGTON, Ohio – No. 6 ranked Marietta College started the New year with a key 75-64 Ohio Athletic Conference road win at Wilmington College Saturday (Jan. 4) afternoon. The Pioneers improve to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. Wilmington slips to 4-7 on the season and 2-2 in league play.

"This was a huge road win today for our team," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "It's never easy at Wilmington and our guys stayed the course and found a way to win. I thought it was a gutsy effort by our guys."

Jason Ellis led all scorers with 26 points. He also grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists. Tim Kreeger notched his first double-double of the season with 19 points and a career-high 13 boards. Mike Hall also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Colin Myers led three Quakers in double figures with 18 points and a team-high nine rebounds. DaeShawn Jackson added 12 points and seven boards, while Jeffrey Mansfield finished with 10 points and six rebounds.

The first half got off to a slow start as Wilmington led, 8-5, through four minutes of play. The Pioneers' buckets were scored by Hall, who hit a three, and Kreeger. After three minutes of scoreless action, the Quakers took a 10-5 edge, and forced a Marietta timeout.

Out of the break, the Pioneers battled back to take a 13-12 advantage, with just over eight minutes to play in the half. The Marietta offense came from Kyle Matoszkia, Hall, Ellis, and Jake Montgomery.

After Wilmington answered back to take a 17-15 edge, the Pioneers responded with a 10-0 run that saw them take a 25-17 advantage. The run was sparked by five points from Ellis and supported by layups from Hall and Kreeger. Marietta ended the first half strong, and entered the intermission ahead, 34-27.

The Pioneers opened the second half on a 11-2 run extending their lead to 48-29, just over four minutes into the final period. The run was started by four foul shots from Ellis, and highlighted by a dunk from Hall.

Marietta maintained a 56-38 edge at the 11:34 mark of the second half. Wilmington responded with a 6-0 run to cut into the Pioneers advantage. Marietta ended the run when Christian James knocked down a pair of foul shots with 10 minutes to play in the game.

The Quakers continued to battle and trimmed the Pioneer lead to 13 points. Marietta answered with a 6-0 run to regain a 64-45 edge with eight minutes to play in the half. The run was started by a jumper from Caleb Hoying and capped by a Kreeger layup.

Wilmington responded with a 10-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to nine points, 64-55, with 4:48 left in the game. Kreeger ended a four-minute Pioneer scoring drought with a jumper that pushed the lead back into double digits.

The Quakers got no closer than eight points in the final minutes of the game.

The Pioneers will return to the court Wednesday (Jan. 8) when they host Muskingum University, with tip off scheduled for 7 p.m.