MARIETTA, Ohio — The No. 22 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team defeated the University of Mount Union, 80-71, Wednesday (Jan. 31) in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers improve to 16-4 overall and 10-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Purple Raiders slip to 10-10 overall and 6-7 in the OAC.

Senior Dillon Young equaled his career-high with 25 points to lead Marietta. Kyle Dixon scored 14 points and DeVaughn Wingard finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

JJ Kukura led Mount Union with 29 points and 15 rebounds.  Nathan Bower-Malone added 20 points, while D'Vontay Friga had 15 points.

Marietta led by as many as eight points in the first half and took a four-point lead, 39-35, into halftime.

The Purple Raiders opened the second half with a 15-4 run to go in front, 50-43, four minutes into the period. The teams exchanged small leads over the next eight minutes and Mount held a 60-58 lead with 8:36 remaining.

The Pioneers scored the next nine points. Mike Hall hit a three-pointer to trigger the run and Dixon knocked down a pair of free throws and a three-pointer to finish it.

Mount Union managed to get within three points, 67-64, only to see the Pioneers score the next six points. Marietta converted 22-of-24 free throws in the second half to keep the Purple Raiders from pulling off the upset.

For the game, Marietta shot 45.8% (22-of-48) from the floor, 35.3% (6-of-17) from three-point range and 85.7% (30-of-35) at the line. The Purple Raiders were 27-of-66 (40.9%) from the floor, 7-of-30 (23.3%) behind the arc and 10-of-12 (83.3%) at the line.

The Pioneers outrebounded Mount Union, 40-31. Marietta turned the ball over 15 times, while Mount Union committed just seven turnovers.

Marietta stays home to host Heidelberg University on Saturday (Feb. 3). Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.