BEREA, Ohio — Sophomore point guard Keith Richardson scored a career-high 22 points to lead Marietta College, ranked No. 24 nationally, to an 86-77 win at Baldwin Wallace University Wednesday (Dec. 17) evening.

The Pioneers moved into a three-way tie with Mount Union and John Carroll atop the Ohio Athletic Conference standings with a 4-0 league record. Marietta is 9-0 overall. Baldwin Wallace drops to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the OAC.

Richardson hit 7-of-11 from the floor and was 7-of-8 at the free throw. He also dished out a game-high five assists. Senior Garrett Stephenson scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds. Junior Eddy Grenert and freshman Dillon Young chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Grenert had a team-best eight rebounds.

Jaron Crowe led BW with 22 points and five assists. Justin Roth had 18 points and five rebounds, while Jake Fetherolf had 10 points and nine boards.

The first half featured five lead changes and six ties as neither team could pull away. Marietta had the biggest lead of the first half when Young nailed a three-pointer with 5:10 left to give the Pioneers a 30-25 advantage. MC led 40-36 at halftime.

Marietta opened the second half with a 7-3 run to push the margin to eight points, 47-39, at the 18:33 mark. The Pioneers never trailed in the second half. A layup from Andy Stegman made it a 10-point game, 53-43, with 14:45 remaining.

Baldwin Wallace responded with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the deficit to one, 53-52. The Pioneers answered with three consecutive three-pointers to reopen a double-digit lead, 68-57, with 8:52 left in the game.

A three-pointer from Grenert with 5:36 left on the clock gave Marietta its biggest lead of the game, 75-61. The Yellow Jackets managed to get within five but couldn't overtake the undefeated Pioneers.

For the game, Marietta was 33-of-67 (49.3%) from the floor, 8-of-16 (50.0%) from three-point range and 12-of-14 (85.7%) at the line. Baldwin Wallace shot 39.7% (27-of-68) from the floor, 30.8% (8-of-26) behind the arc and 83.3% (15-of-18) at the line.

The Pioneers outrebounded Baldwin Wallace 40-38. He Pioneers turned the ball over 14 times, while the Yellow Jackets committed 15 turnovers.

Marietta hosts John Carroll on Saturday (Dec. 20) in a battle for first place in the OAC standings. Tip off is set for 3:00 p.m. Admission for Saturday's game is free of charge and fans are encouraged to bring canned or dry food products which will donated to the Gospel Mission Food Pantry.