BETHANY, W.Va. — The No. 11 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team defeated Bethany College 78-65 Tuesday (Nov. 17) evening. Marietta improved to 2-0 on the young season, while the Bison are 1-1 overall.

After trading buckets through the first five minutes of the game, Bethany hit back-to-back three-pointers to take its biggest lead of the night, 17-11 with 13:58 left in the first half.

The Pioneers responded with a 17-2 run building a nine point lead of their own, 28-19. A.J. Ireland scored all seven of his points in the game during the run. A jumper from Anthony Wallace just before the buzzer gave Marietta a 43-32 lead at halftime.

Bethany's Darrian Bruster scored the first seven points of the second half to get the Bison within four points, 43-39. But Marietta quickly pushed the lead back into double digits where it would remain for the rest of the game.

A.J. Edwards posted his second double-double in as many games with a team-high 15 points and 13 rebounds. Once again Marietta dominated the frontcourt scoring 40 points in the paint on the night.

Luis Garcia hit 5-of- 6 from the floor and finished with 14 points. Eddy Grenert and Anthony Wallace chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Calique Jones led the Biosn with a game-high 18 points. Bruster and Andrew Williams scored 13 points apiece. On the glass, Jones and Antonio Rudolph each grabbed eight boards.

Marietta shot 47.7% (31-of-65) from the floor, 50.0% (7-of-14) behind the arc and 75.0% (9-of-12) at the line. Bethany was 24-of-63 (38.1%) from the floor, 7-of-23 (30.4%) from three-point range and 10-of-18 (55.6%) at the line.

The Pioneers outrebounded Bethany 44-39. The Bison turned the ball over 11 times, while Marietta committed just 10 turnovers.

Marietta hosts the 45th annual Sgrine Tournament Friday and Saturday (Nov. 20-21). The Pioneers play Methodist on Friday at 8:00 p.m.