UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — John Carroll University used a full court pressing defense and timely shooting to defeat No. 3 Marietta College by the score of 86-71 Saturday (Feb. 14) afternoon. The loss drops the Pioneers into a tie with Mount Union for first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 14-2 league record.

Marietta is 21-2 overall after losing its second straight game. John Carroll improves to 17-5 on the season and is one game back in the OAC standings with a 13-3 record.

The Pioneers suffered their worst shooting day of the season hitting just 38.8% (26-of-67) from the floor. Compounding matters was an 8-of-19 (42.1%) performance at the free throw line, MC's worst since the 2008-09 season.

Marietta grabbed the early lead on three-pointers from RaNeal Ewing and Andy Dollman.  The teams traded the lead through the first eight minutes of the game. An old fashioned three-point play from David Hendrickson put JCU in front, 21-19, with 11:18 left in the first half.

Hendrickson's three-point play started a 7-0 run for the Blue Streaks. John Carroll never trailed again. They took a 50-45 lead into halftime and led by as many as 15 points in the second half.

Ewing led Marietta in scoring for the fourth time in the last five games. Ewing finished with 17 points, including four three-pointers. Senior Garrett Stephenson scored 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Fellow post player Eddy Grenert chipped in with seven points and a team-high nine boards.

John Carroll was led by David Linane's game-high 30 points. Linane was 10-of-15 from the floor and hit 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Will Starks scored 22 points off the bench sinking five treys. Doug Caputo dominated the glass grabbing 11 rebounds.

For the game, the Pioneers were 26-of-67 (38.8%) from the floor, 11-of-31 (35.5%) from three-point range and 8-of-19 (42.1%) at the line. John Carroll shot 44.8% (30-of-67) from the floor, 43.5% (10-of-23) from three-point range and 66.7% (16-of-24) at the line.

Marietta outrebounded JCU 47-43. The Pioneers committed 21 turnovers, while the Blue Streaks turned the ball over 15 times.

Marietta returns home to host Otterbein University on Wednesday (Feb. 18) for a 7:30 p.m. contest.