MARIETTA, Ohio – The #13 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team was in action Wednesday (Jan. 16) as they hosted the University of Mount Union inside Ban Johnson. The Pioneers defeated the Purple Raiders, 81-69.

With the win, Marietta improves to 14-2 overall and 8-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play and, coupled with Capital's 63-62 loss at Heidelberg, move into a tie for first place in the league standings. Mount Union drops to 13-3 overall and 8-2 in OAC action.

The Raiders opened the game quickly and held a 13-6 edge at the 17:24 mark in the first half forcing a Pioneers timeout. The six Marietta points came from a pair of Lukas Isaly three-pointers.

Out of the timeout, the Pioneers responded with a 14-3 run that saw Marietta take a 20-16 lead and force Mount Union to call a timeout. The run was a team effort as Anthony Wallace, Mike Hall, Jason Ellis, Kyle Matoszki, and Mel Shuler all scored during the spurt.

Following the break, the Raiders tied the game at 20 points apiece, but the Pioneers answered with an 8-0 run to take a 28-20 edge with eight minutes remaining in the half. The run was started with three foul shots from Mason Lydic and capped by a trey from Wallace.

Marietta continued its strong play with a 9-0 run stretching the lead to 37-20. Isaly capped the run with a four-point play getting fouled as he drained a three-pointer. The Pioneers were able to grab a 41-29 edge before Mount Union ended the half on an 8-0 run that cut the Marietta lead to 41-37 at the intermission.

The second half opened as a back and forth battle. The Pioneers held a 50-47 advantage at the 14:48 mark of the half only to see the Raiders battle back and tie the game, 53-53, with just over 13 minutes remaining in the game.

Marietta was able to stretch out a 60-54 advantage behind a 7-1 run that forced a Mount Union timeout with 10 minutes to play. The run was led by Shuler as he had five of the seven Pioneer points.

The Pioneers held the Raiders at bay and lea 74-63 after a pair of Shuler foul shots with under four minutes remaining in the game. The closest Mount Union would get was nine points, and Marietta won, 81-69.

The Pioneers were led by Wallace as he scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds. Isaly added a career high 16 points, as he was a perfect 4-4 from behind the arc. Shuler pitched in on offense with 13 points. Caleb Hoyng led the Pioneers in rebounds with 13.

D'Vontay Friga paced the Purple Raiders with 15 points. Diallo Niamke finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while Nathan Bower-Malone added 12 points. Mario Caywood pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

For the game, Marietta shot 46.4% (26-of-56) from the floor, 47.8% (11-of-23) from three-point range and 85.7% (18-of-21) at the free throw line. The Purple Raiders were 24-of-62 (38.7%) from the floor, 5-of-25 (20.0%) behind the arc and 16-of-22 (72.7%) at the charity stripe.

The Pioneers outrebounded Mount Union, 42-34. Marietta turned the ball over 14 times, while the Purple Raiders committed just eight turnovers in the game.

Marietta returns to the hardwood on Saturday (Jan. 19) when the Pioneers travel to Berea for a 3 p.m. game at against Baldwin Wallace University.