MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta coach Jon VanderWal knew he was getting a special player when he recruited Lukas Isaly out of River High School in 2018.

So, when the third-ranked Pioneers needed a big play against Wabash on Friday night, Isaly delivered multiple times as Marietta held off the Little Giants for a 99-92 victory in the Great Lakes Invitational.

"He plays relentless," VanderWal said.

Isaly scored a team-high 22 points, including 12 in the first half. He also made four 3-point baskets on a night when Marietta (2-1) only made five from behind the arc.

"I had the same mindset as last week. I just wanted to attack," Isaly said. "My confidence is up this year. The guys I play with give me a lot of confidence."

In the second half, Marietta led by as many as 15 but watched the Little Giants (1-2) chip away and take a two-point lead with 3:54 to play. But it was Isaly who made a 3-pointer to give the Pioneers an 87-86 lead – and Marietta never trailed again. He also made four foul shots in the final minute to maintain the lead.

Isaly's performance was impressive, but he wasn't alone.

Senior Tim Kreeger overcame early foul trouble to post 18 points in just 17 minutes of play.

"It would be great if he stopped fouling," said a joking VanderWal. "I knew he was going to have a big day, but he picked up those two early fouls, so it was by committee for us in the post."

Wabash's Kellen Schreiber, who also had 20 points, said Kreeger was a challenging match-up.

"He's a long player and has good post moves," he said. "They recognized what we were doing on ball screens and they saw where the mismatches were. He's a pretty good player. He starts for a very good Marietta team. He was the biggest difference when he was in the game."

Fortunately for Marietta, the Pioneers built a 53-40 lead at halftime.

"(That's) a hole that most people are not going to dig out of," said Wabash coach Kyle Brumett. "They are a great team and even better at home."

Marietta dominated on the boards in the first half with a 21-10 advantage.

"We had no real fight on the offensive glass in the first half," Brumett said. "When (Marietta's Sahmi) Willoughby came off the bench, he changed the level of play."

Willoughby led Marietta with seven rebounds, while freshman Will Yontek added six rebounds in seven minutes of action.

Wabash was able to get back into the game because of the offensive outburst in the second half that was led by Schreiber and Ahmoni Jones. Schreiber scored 12 of his 20 points and Jones had 19 of his 24 in the second half. Jack Davidson also scored 13 points in the loss, but only two of those points came in the second half.

"I was really proud how our guys came out of the half," Brumett said. "That year off was crazy for everybody. We're trying to figure out how to be the best version of ourselves together."

Marietta enjoyed a balanced offensive attack that included 13 points from Mason Lydic, 10 points from both Jason Ellis and Brett Martin and nine from Jac Alexander. The Pioneers shot an impressive 54.4 percent from the field and made 20-of-25 from the foul line.

VanderWal was pleased to pull out the win.

"What a game. Wabash is a really good team. We feel fortunate that we got this win," VanderWal said. "They really played with some real intent. They battled their tails off, but our guys didn't blink. We're fortunate to have some older guys who have played in these types of games before."

The Pioneers were also excited to play in front of big home crowd again – something they didn't get to do during last year's abbreviated COVID season.

"It was awesome," Kreeger said. "A lot of guys on our team haven't played in this type of atmosphere before."

Isaly added, "It felt good to get the community back together again. Everybody was excited to get back in here and the place was crazy."

Marietta hosts No. 1 Randolph-Macon at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, while Wabash returns to take on Emory at 5:30 p.m.