MARIETTA, Ohio – No. 15 ranked Marietta College couldn't overcome an ice-cold shooting performance in the first half and fell to No. 11 Mount Union by the score of 81-67 Wednesday (Feb. 12) evening in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers fall to 18-4 overall and 12-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Mount Union takes a two-game lead in the league standings and are now 19-3 overall and 14-1 in the OAC.

"I'm super proud of our effort. Our guys never gave up and kept battling. We just didn't make enough plays," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "Mount Union deserves all the credit. They came in here, in this environment, and won the game. We had plenty of good looks, but just couldn't get it to go in."

The game got off to a slow start as Mount Union led, 5-4, five minutes into the game. The Marietta points were scored by a pair of foul shots from Lukas Isaly and a layup from Tim Kreeger. The Purple Raiders opened up a 6-0 run stretching their lead to 11-4, which forced a Pioneer timeout.

Out of the timeout the teams continued to battle and Mount Union maintained a 21-10 edge at the 9:22 mark of the first half. The Purple Raiders were able to hold the Pioneers at bay for the entire first half as Mount Union entered the intermission ahead, 43-25.

Marietta was 9-of-32 (28.2%) from the floor and hit just 1-of-13 (7.7%) from behind the arc in the first half. Meanwhile, Mount connected on 10 three-pointers in the first period accounting for their 18-point lead.

The second half opened with both teams trading baskets. The Marietta points came from Caleb Hoyng, Mike Hall, and Isaly. The Purple Raiders pushed the lead to 51-31 and forced a Pioneer timeout, four minutes into the second half.

Marietta battled its way back into the game with a 20-5 run that spanned nearly seven minutes of play and trimmed the Mount Union lead to 56-51 with just over eight minutes remaining. The run was a well-rounded attack as Christian James, Kreeger, Hoyng, and Ellis all scored during the run.

Marietta continued to cut into the Mount Union lead and at the 3:32 minute mark a layup from Kreeger cut the Purple Raiders advantage to 66-62 forcing a Mount Union timeout.

The Purple Raiders missed on their next possession and Ellis hit a jumper in the paint at the other end to make it a two-point game, 66-64 with 2:57 left on the clock. Mount Union answered with nine straight points to push the margin back into double digits, 75-64, and secure the victory.

The Pioneers were led by Hoyng, as he notched his fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Ellis added to the performance with a game-high 23 points to go along with five rebounds. Kreeger pitched in with 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Nathan Bower-Malone led all scorers with 21 points for the Purple Raiders. Collen Gurley hit five three-pointers and finished with 19 points and five rebounds. D'Vontay Friga added 15 points, while Braedon Poole grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.

Marietta will return to the court Saturday (Feb. 15) when they host Wilmington College on Senior Day. Tip off scheduled for 3 p.m.