MARIETTA, Ohio — Lovenson Xavier scored a career-high 21 points leading Marietta College to an 82-67 win over Penn State-Altoona Tuesday (Dec. 6) evening in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers improve to 5-2 on the season, while the Lions slip to 2-5 overall.
 
Penn State scored an alley-oop dunk of the opening tip when Alex McClellan found Andruw Harman open in the lane. Xavier answered with a three-pointer to give Marietta the lead. The Pioneers never trailed the rest of the night.
 
A fastbreak layup from Jayden Bradshaw pushed the margin into double figures, 14-4, six minutes into the first half. The Lions chipped away at the deficit and cut the MC lead to one, 16-15, on a bucket from Robbie Hicks with 7:28 left in the period. Marietta closed the half on a 12-4 run to lead 38-27 at halftime.
 
By the midway point of the second half, the Pioneers had extended their lead to 18 points, 53-35. A jumper from Addy Black with 6:36 left in the game made it a 20-point game, 65-45. A dunk from Ethan Andersen gave Marietta its biggest lead of the game, 67-46.
 
Xavier made 7-of-11 shots from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers. He was a perfect 5-for-5 at the line and grabbed six rebounds. Sahmi Willoughby finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. David Sanford and Jake Singleton chipped in with eight and seven points, respectively.
 
Dwayne Jones came off the bench to lead Penn State with a double-double. Jones finished with 20 points, 11 boards and five blocked shots. Mason Bush added 11 points.
 
Marietta jumps back into Ohio Athletic Conference play this Saturday (Dec. 10) when Baldwin Wallace University visits Ban Johnson Arena. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.