MARIETTA, Ohio — Anyone who watched Lukas Isaly play Saturday night knows he's a big-game player.

Marietta's senior point guard scored a career-best 36 points in a match-up of top-five programs in front of 1,342 rowdy fans inside Ban Johnson Arena during the final game of the Great Lakes Invitational.

Unfortunately for him and Marietta College, it just wasn't enough. Instead, top-ranked Randolph-Macon outscored the third-ranked Pioneers 59-50 in the second half to pull out an 82-74 win.

"Isaly was unreal," said Randolph-Macon coach Josh Merkel.

Isaly scored 25 of his points in the second half as he tried to will Marietta to the upset victory. He also played relentless defense as he was on the floor for 32 minutes.

"It's not what we wanted after the loss to Roanoke (last week), but I thought we played our butts off," Isaly said.

And he made an impression on Randolph-Macon's Buzz Anthony, who is considered one of the top NCAA Division III players.

"He is a shot maker. You can't really simulate (in practice) what he does," Anthony said. "We're a team that takes pride in our defense, but that dude was in the zone and he had the crowd going. He's going to prepare us for great players in the tournament."

Marietta, however, wasn't looking for a moral victory.

"We felt like we had a golden opportunity for something special tonight," said Marietta coach Jon VanderWal. "We're pretty bummed we came up short. Obviously, Randolph-Macon is one of the best teams in the country. I think we're right there. We're bummed because we feel like we should have won that game."

Senior Jason Ellis scored 15 points in 33 minutes of action hopes the Pioneers learn from the experience.

"They are really good. Lukas kept us in the game," he said. "It was tough to lose the way we did, but now we have to bounce back."

Isaly agrees and said the team will begin preparing for Geneva, who the Pioneers host Tuesday in a non-conference game. The tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

"We'll watch video and start getting ready for the next game," he said. "We'll see what we are made of. We have a lot of younger guys who have never experienced games like this. It was a good experience for them."

Marietta built a 24-23 lead at halftime because of a relentless defense that didn't allow many easy shots for the Yellow Jackets (5-0). Late in the first half, R-M switched to a 3-2 matchup zone and then continue to use it in the second half. Offensively, Marietta struggled to adapt.

"We didn't handle their zone defenses like would have liked to," VanderWal said. "The atmosphere actually worked against us because we struggled to get guys on the same page. We could have handled the zone better by finding the gaps and making some plays."

However, VanderWal did note that the Pioneers did score 50 points the second half against a Randolph-Macon team that allows on average 65 points a game.

The difference in the second half for R-M was the number of easy baskets the Yellow Jackets converted through back-door cuts and Ian Robertson's hot 3-point shooting. Robertson finished with 20 points, including multiple clutch 3-pointers.

"You have to pick your poison," VanderWal said. "We chose to try to shut down Buzz today. We guarded him about as well as we could, and you need the ball to bounce your way a few times. However, (Robertson) made some big shots and he hit a couple of daggers down the stretch."

Robertson said he had been struggling to make shots early this season. But that wasn't the case Saturday.

"These guys keep telling me to shoot. Today was one of those days where they kept going in," Robertson said.

Merkel was impressed with the Marietta fans and the Pioneer players.

"This was an awesome environment for these kids. Our guys were hyped about it all weekend. Fortunate we came out on top. They are very good in this building," he said. "Both teams were doing a good job, but they were physical and bullied us in the first half. In the second half, we were just trying to get some more two-man games."

And it worked.

Miles Mallory, who went 8-for-8 from the foul line, had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, while Josh Talbert added 11 points. Anthony scored 15 points and dished out 13 assists.

"They had guys step up and make plays, and they made all of their foul shots down the stretch," VanderWal said. "It was a great game, great environment with two great teams. First half defensively was everything we talked about. The first half I couldn't have been happier. We were flying around. We made it really challenging on them."

Marietta's Cooper Parrott had his best outing of the season as he chipped in with 11 points.

"I think we have all of the pieces. I think we are one of the top teams in the country," VanderWal said. "I know the guys in that locker room have the potential to be the best team in the country. We can play with anybody out there."