MARIETTA, Ohio — Junior post Kevin Knab (Lakewood/Lakewood) scored a game-high 21 points and Marietta College used a big first-half advantage to help it pass the first road test of the season with a 67-61 victory at Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) rival Muskingum University Wednesday (Dec. 1) evening. [Box Score]

Marietta, under the direction of fourth-year Head Coach Jon VanderWal, remained undefeated in five decisions and improved to 1-0 in the OAC. Muskingum fell to 1-4, 0-1 in the league standings.

Knab, who was limited to just nine first half minutes due to foul trouble, went 5-of-6 from the floor and entered intermission with 11 points. He and his teammates carried a 37-26 lead into the break by shooting 61.5% (16-of-26) from the floor over the first 20 minutes.

The Marietta advantage quickly grew to 13 points after Knab hit a pair of layups early in the second half. Later in the period, junior post Conner Kilpatrick (Bowling Green/Bowling Green) hit a pair of free throws to give the Pioneers a 51-40 lead with 9:33 to play in the game. Muskingum, however, outscored Marietta 15-4 over the next 4:34 to knot the game at 55-55 with 3:59 left on the clock. Following a timeout, the Pioneers regrouped and scored 12 of the final 18 points to leave New Concord with a 67-61 victory.

Knab, who added three rebounds, was the lone Pioneer to score double figures. Freshman guard Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) followed with nine points and a game-best five assists. Junior wing Trevor Halter (Malvern/Malvern) and Kilpatrick both added eight points, while Kilpatrick also contributed six boards in the win for Marietta, who shot 54.8% (23-of-42) for the game finished with a 28-27 edge on the boards. Wednesday marked the third time in six games that the Pioneers made more than half the shots they attempted.

JJ Armstrong paced Muskingum with 14 points. Josh Brindley also contributed 13 points and six rebounds, while Kyle Clinedist had 10 points and seven boards. The Muskies finished 21-of-47 (44.7%) from the field and scored 22 points off 20 Pioneer turnovers.

Marietta will look to keep its momentum building Saturday (Dec. 4) when it returns to the friendly confines of Ban Johnson Arena to play host to Baldwin-Wallace College at 3 p.m.