BEREA, Ohio — Junior Trevor Halter (Malvern/Malvern) scored 17 second-half points and joined an elite list to help Marietta College defeat host Baldwin-Wallace College 67-63 in Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball action Saturday (Jan. 22) afternoon. [Box Score]

With the win, the Pioneers improved to 15-2 overall and 8-2 in league play. They also regained sole possession of first place after John Carroll University defeated Capital University 82-77. Both the Blue Streak and Crusaders sit one game back in the standings at 7-3. The Yellow Jackets fell to 7-10 overall and 3-7 in the OAC.

Halter, who has now scored 1,009 career points, became the 28th Pioneer to reach that benchmark and first since Isaiah Creasap in 2009. He scored his 1,000th career point by hitting a pair of free throws with 2:40 remaining. More importantly, his two shots from the line cut Marietta's deficit to one, 57-56. Halter then followed with a three-pointer to give the Pioneers a 59-57 lead with 1:39 to play. It was his consistency at the charity stripe, however, that sealed the road victory. Halter, who went 10-for-10 at the line and added four rebounds in the game, made six straight free throws over the final 20 seconds to help Marietta hold off Baldwin-Wallace 67-63.

Marietta jumped out to a 27-13 lead 14 minutes into the game behind the strong play of junior Kevin Knab (Lakewood/Lakewood), who scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the time span. Baldwin-Wallace, however, responded with a 14-0 run to even the score at 27-27 with 2:26 left to play in the half. A three-pointer by sophomore Brian Crader (Thornville/Sheridan) broke a 4:50 Pioneer scoring drought and put his squad back on top. They eventually took a 32-30 lead into the break.

The score remained tight throughout the second half. Twice Marietta led by five points, including 51-46 with 9:55 left on the clock. Baldwin-Wallace then went on an 11-2 run to regain the lead 57-53 with 4:10 remaining in the game. The rest of the game belonged to Halter, who scored 11 of the Pioneers' final 14 points to help them secure the win.

Knab, who added seven boards, and Halter combined for 37 of Marietta's 67 points. Freshman Andrew Seaman (Hillsboro/Peebles ) added eight points, while sophomore Jason Humphrey (Naples, Fla./Barron Collier) and freshman Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) both had five in the victory. The Pioneers shot 48.1% (25-of-52) overall and won the battle of the boards 31-28.

Promis Cabbil paced Baldwin-Wallace with 14 points. Kyle Payne added 10 points, while Zane Meeder and Kevin Krakowiak both had eight. In addition, Sean Rothermel collected a game-best nine rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, who finished 20-of-53 (37.7%) from the floor and 5-of-21 (23.8%) from beyond the arc.

Marietta is back action Wednesday (Jan. 26) evening when it plays host to Muskingum University. Tip-off at Ban Johnson Arena is slated for 7:30 p.m. The Pioneers will attempt to sweep the season series after defeating their rival 67-61 in New Concord on Dec. 1, 2010. Marietta will be taking donations for its Coaches vs. Cancer activities, which are planned for Feb. 5.