ALLIANCE, Ohio — No. 11 Marietta College led start to finish as the Pioneers defeated No. 18 Mount Union 98-85 Wednesday (Jan. 20) evening in a battle for second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings. Marietta finishes the first half of the OAC schedule with an 8-1 record and is 14-2 overall having won six straight.

The Pioneers scored the first 10 points of the game and raced out to a 24-3 lead stunning Mount Union (11-5 overall, 7-2 OAC) and silencing the Purple Raider crowd.  Marietta completely dominated the first half and took a 53-20 into halftime.

A.J. Edwards just missed a double-double in the first half with 13 points and eight rebounds. He finished the night with 21 points and 11 boards for his fifth double-double of the season.

Luis Garcia led the Pioneers with 22 points. Garcia sank three from beyond the arc and also pulled down six rebounds. Dillon Young scored 18 points to go along with nine boards, six assists and four steals. Eddy Grenert added 13 points and six caroms.

None of Mount's starters reached double figures. Kyle Scelza came off the bench to lead all scorers with 27 points, all from three-point range. Scelza hit seven of his nine treys in the second half. J.J. Kukura tallied 16 points.

The Purple Raiders regrouped at halftime and came out firing in the second period. Mount connected on 12 three-pointers in the second half and trimmed Marietta's 33-point lead down to 13 before the final buzzer.

Mount Unions' full court pressure resulted in numerous fouls putting the Pioneers on the free throw line frequently. Marietta scored 23 of its 45 second half points at the charity stripe.

For the game, Marietta shot 47.5% (28-of-59) from the floor, 42.3% (11-of-26) from three-point range and 79.5% (31-of-39) at the line. The Purple Raiders were 31-of-79 (39.2%) from the floor, 15-of-46 (32.6%) from three-point range and 8-of-12 (66.7%) at the line.

The Pioneers outrebounded Mount Union 48-35. Marietta turned the ball over 16 times, while the Purple raiders committed 12 turnovers.

Marietta returns home to host Heidelberg University on Saturday (Jan. 23). Tip off is set for 3:00 p.m. in Ban Johnson Arena.