TIFFIN, Ohio – The No. 17-ranked Marietta College men's basketball team held off a feisty Heidelberg University squad to win 82-80 Saturday (Dec. 14) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference action. The Pioneers improve to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the OAC, while the Student Princes drop to 3-5 and 0-3 in the OAC.

If anyone knows how to play the Pioneers it is first-year Heidelberg head coach Andy Bucheit. Bucheit spent the last five seasons as an assistant at Marietta and was also the recruiting coordinator largely responsible for the talent on the current Pioneer roster.

The Student Princes came out firing and sunk eight of their first 10 shots, including a pair of three-pointers, to lead 18-10 six minutes into the game. Marietta shook off the long bus ride and answered with a 13-0 run to jump ahead 23-18, with 9:51 left in the opening period.

The Pioneers led by as many as eight points in the half and took a seven-point advantage, 36-29, into the locker room at halftime.

A couple of quick three-pointers to start the second half pushed Marietta's lead to 11 points, 42-31, two minutes into the period. Heidelberg scored the next 11 points to knot the game, 42-42, with 16:39 remaining.

Over the next 11 minutes the lead exchanged hands seven times. A three-pointer from Luis Garcia with 4:32 remaining put Marietta in front for good. Garcia scored 13 points off the bench including a pair of three-pointers in the second half.

Heidelberg refused to go away quietly. Two late three-pointers, one from Keith Mackie and an NBA-length trey from Mike Petrie, cut the Pioneer lead to one, 81-80, with 11 seconds left on the clock.

The Student Princes were forced to foul and sent Brennan McKean to the line with six seconds remaining. McKean hit the first free throw but missed the second. Jackson Blue grabbed the rebound for Heidelberg to give the Student Princes the last shot. Mackie's jumper was off the mark at the buzzer.

Junior Garrett Stephenson led the Pioneers with 18 points on 6-of- 8 shooting from the floor. Andy Dollman added 13 points and five assists, while Andy Stegman chipped in with nine points and a team-high six rebounds.

Heidelberg's Deonte Holder hit 10-of-13 shot attempts for a game-high 24 points. Petrie finished with 12 points, while Mackie and Cole Williams each scored 11 points.

Marietta outrebounded the Student Princes 35-30. The Pioneers turned the ball over nine times, while Heidelberg committed just seven turnovers.

Marietta shot 47.5% (29-of-61) from the floor, 34.8% (8-of-23) from three-point range and 80.0% (16-of-20) at the free throw line. Heidelberg was 30-of-67 (44.8%) from the floor, 10-of-25 (40.0%) behind the arc and 10-of-13 (76.9%) at the line.

Marietta hosts Muskingum University for a 7:30 p.m. game on Wednesday (Dec. 18).