MARIETTA, Ohio – Jason Ellis poured in a career high 51 points as he led the No. 8 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team to a 104-98 victory over John Carroll University on Saturday (Dec. 7) inside Ban Johnson Arena. The win keeps the Pioneers perfect at 6-0 overall and 3-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play and the loss drops the Blue Streaks to 5-2 overall and 0-2 in the OAC action.

"What a performance by both teams and in particular Jason  Ellis," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "We won this game today because of Jason. It was obviously a team effort as we did a great job of finding him. But that's one of the greatest Marietta College single game performances ever."

Marietta was led Ellis as he notched his 51 points on 8-11 shooting from behind the arc, and 17-19 from the foul line. He just missed the Marietta College single game scoring record of 54 points set by Don Whiting against Fairmont State during the 1916-17 season.

Christian James tied his career high with 12 points, five assists, and four rebounds in the game. Mason Lydic pitched in with 10 points and a career high six assists. Mike Hall was big on the glass as he had a career high 10 rebounds.

Ryan Berger led four Blue Streaks in double figures with 33 points. James Berger finished with 19 points, while Sean Flannery and Emmett Chambers added 17 and 13 points, respectively.

"Kudos to John Carroll. They just battled," VanderWal said. "They're hard for us to guard and they are really well coached. Today was a prototypical Marietta John Carroll chaotic mess of a game. I'm proud of our guys for sticking with it."

John Carroll opened the game quickly as they held leads of 7-2, and 11-5 early in the half. The Pioneers responded with an 8-2 run that tied the game at 13 points apiece six minutes into the game. The run was highlighted by a pair of three pointers from James and Ellis, and the run was capped by a layup from Caleb Hoyng, which forced a Blue Streak timeout.

Out of the break, Marietta took an 18-15 edge behind a layup from Karson Snyder. John Carroll answered with a 9-0 run that saw them take a 24-18 advantage and forced a Pioneer timeout, with nine and a half minutes to play in first half.

The Pioneers answered right back to tie the game when Hoyng knocked down a deep three pointer. On the ensuing Marietta possession Lydic drilled a three to put the Pioneers back on top, 27-26, with seven minutes to play.

After the Blue Streaks took a 28-27 lead the Pioneers heated up from behind the arc as James and Ellis hit back to back treys and Marietta jumped out to a 35-28 advantage forcing another John Carroll timeout, with five and a half minutes to play in the half. The teams traded buckets to end the half and Marietta led, 50-42 at the intermission.

The Blue Streaks opened the second half with back to back buckets, before the Pioneers opened up a 9-0 run that saw their lead swell to 59-46, behind Ellis as he scored five of the nine points.

John Carroll trimmed the Marietta advantage to 64-62 with a 13-0 run, at the 12:32 mark in the second half. The teams swapped buckets through the middle of the second half and the game was tied at 80-80 with five and a half minutes to play in the game.

After the Blue Streaks took an 82-81, Ellis answered for the Pioneers when he scored five straight points and put Marietta on top, 86-82 with just over four minutes to play in the game. The Pioneers maintained their lead behind big three-point shots from Ellis and James, and Marietta led 92-87 with a minute and a half to play in the game.

The Pioneers closed out the game with timely buckets, and the win was sealed with a dunk from Tim Kreeger with 10 seconds remaining in the game.

Marietta will return to the hardwood Tuesday (Dec. 17) when they travel to take on Transylvania University in the Transylvania Don Lane Classic.