MARIETTA, Ohio – A last second shot by Lawrence Parsons rimmed out as Marietta College held on to defeat Ohio Christina University 84-83 in the first round of the 43rd annual Marietta Shrine Tournament sponsored by BSN Sports Friday (Nov. 15) evening.

The Pioneers (1-0 overall) will face Piedmont College (Ga.) in the championship game at 7:00 p.m. Saturday. Piedmont defeated Earlham College (Ind.) 66-61 in the other first round game. Earlham and Ohio Christian (2-4 overall) will play in the consolation game at 5:00 p.m.

Marietta hit seven of its first eight shots to jump out to an early 19-11 lead. Junior Andy Dollman, who transferred to MC from Glenville State (W.Va.), connected on his first three shots, including a pair of three-pointers, during the early run.

The Pioneers gradually increased the lead and a coast-to-coast slam-dunk from sophomore RaNeal Ewing pushed the margin to 16 points, 54-38, just before halftime. Ewing, a transfer from Otterbein University, finished with 12 points on a 5-for-6 shooting night.

Ohio Christian tried to make an early run in the second half but a pair of three-pointers from junior Brennan McKean slowed the Trailblazers down. A McKean layup with 14:18 left in the game gave Marietta a 17-point lead, 70-53.

A 16-5 OCU run over the next seven minutes put the Trailblazers within striking distance, 75-69, with 7:56 remaining. The Trailblazers continued to chip away at the lead and a pair of free throws from Parsons with 1:56 left knotted the game, 81-81.

Dollman, who scored 10 of his 13 points in the first half, responded by draining a three-pointer on MC's next possession making it 84-81 with 1:31 left on the clock. OCU's Wesley Russell hit two free throws with 1:09 remaining to cut the deficit to one, 84-83. Those were the last points to be scored.

Marietta missed a layup on the ensuing possession and then committed a foul sending OCU to the line with 47 seconds left. The Trailblazers, who had converted 15-of-17 free throws in the game, missed both attempts giving the ball back to the Pioneers.

Senior Tyler Hammond missed a jumper setting up the potential game winning shot for Parsons. OCU pushed the ball up the court and Parsons attempted the mid-range jumper as the buzzer sounded.

Junior A.J. Davis led the Pioneers with 14 points. Dollman added 13 points, while Hammond finished with 11 points and 10 assists. McKean chipped in with 12 points. Junior Andy Stegman grabbed a team-high five rebounds.

Russell led all scorers with 25 points including a 9-of-11 night at the free throw line. J.J. Smith recorded a double double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Ohio Christian dominated the glass pulling down 42 rebounds to just 23 for the Pioneers. The Trailblazers committed 15 turnovers, while Marietta had only six.

For the game, OCU shot 29-of-58 (50.0%) from the floor, 10-of-28 (35.7%) behind the arc and 15-of-19 (78.9%) at the line. Marietta hit 33-of-64 (51.6%) from the floor, 11-of-23 (47.8%) from three-point range and 7-of-10 (70.0%) at the line.

Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.