MARIETTA, Ohio — Junior tri-captains Trevor Halter (Malvern/Malvern), Kevin Knab (Lakewood/Lakewood) and Joe Puch (Brunswick/Brunswick) combined for 61 of Marietta's 78 points as the Pioneers defeated visiting Denison University 78-70 in their 2010-11 season season opener.  Marietta (1-0) led from start to finish over Denison (0-1) in front of a white out crowd of over 1,000 fans Monday (Nov. 15) evening at Ban Johnson Arena. [Box Score]

Halter, a wing, led all scorers with 26 points. He hit 5-of-9 (55.5%) from behind the arc. Knab, a post, recorded his first double-double of the year, scoring 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Puch, a wing, chipped in with 15 points and dished out a four assists. Freshman point guard Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) added nine points and recorded a game-high five assists.

Dimonde Hale paced Denison with 24 points and six rebounds. Mike Garabedian added 14 points and six rebounds for the Big Red in the loss.

Marietta came out of the gates on fire and outscored the Big Red 28-7 over the first 7:38 of the game. The Pioneers extended their lead to 24 at 41-17 with 3:36 to go in the first period. Denison, however, rallied back with a 13-5 run to close the half and Marietta entered the locker room ahead 46-30.

The Big Red slowly chipped away at the Marietta lead throughout the second half and cut it down to seven points, 59-52, with 10:06 to play in regulation. Puch then had a run of his own as he drained two straight three pointers to boost the lead back to 13 points, 65-52. Puch then stole the ball from Brett Tiberi, sped down the floor and scored his eighth straight point to put Marietta ahead 67-52. Denison battled back down the stretch but was unable to overcome the deficit and Marietta held on for the 78-70 win.

The Pioneers shot 31-of-65 (47.7%) from the field, 9-of-23 (39.1%) from three-point range and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from the free throw line. Denison finished 25-of-53 (47.2%) from the field, 9-of-21 (42.9%) from beyond the arce and 11-of-18 (61.1%) from the charity stripe. The Pioneers held a 36-30 edge on the boards and committed 13 turnover compared to Denison's 16.