MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College battled back from a big halftime deficit only to fall short against No. 8 ranked John Carroll University. The Blue Streaks posted an 81-71 win over the Pioneers Saturday (Jan. 13) afternoon in Ban Johnson Arena. Marietta moves to 11-4 overall and 5-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. JCU improves to 14-1 on the season and 8-0 in the OAC.
 
Marietta jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and the two teams traded small leads through the first 12 minutes of the game. A jumper from Cooper Parrott with 7:22 left in the first half ties the game, 21-21.
 
John Carroll used a 10-1 run to push the margin into double figures, 36-24, with 2:46 left on the clock. The Blue Streaks then closed out the first half on a 9-0 run getting three-pointers from Chase Toppin and Luke Chicone. JCU led by 20 points, 48-28, at halftime.
 
It appeared that a Pioneer comeback was not going to happen as John Carroll answered any Marietta baskets with one of their own. With 12:46 left in the game, the margin remained 20 points, 61-41.
 
Marietta heated up behind the arc and got a trio of three-pointers from Jake Singleton and triples from Danny Flood and Parrott to get within nine points, 69-60, with 5:44 on the clock.
 
Following a layup from JCU's Henry Raynor, Marietta went on a 7-0 run cutting the Blue Streak lead to four points, 71-67, with 2:34 remaining in the game. The Pioneers took advantage if several JCU fouls scoring five of the seven points at the charity stripe. Eric Chapman added a layup.
 
John Carroll answered with a three-pointer from Chicone and a layup from Toppin pushing the lead back to nine points.
 
Parrott tried to keep the comeback alive with another three-pointer with 51 seconds left on the clock, but Marietta was forced to foul. Chicone converted three of four free throws down the stretch to secure the 81-71 victory for the Blue Streaks.
 
Parrott hit four three-pointers to lead Marietta with 15 points. Willoughby notched his third double-double in the last four games with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Singleton had nine points on three shots from beyond the arc.
 
Chicone led all scorers with 22 points connecting on five three-pointers. He also dished out seven assists. Toppin finished with 20 points and five rebounds. Luke Frazier scored 15 points, while Raynor finished with 10 points.
 
It doesn't get any easier for the Pioneers as they hit the road on Wednesday (Jan. 17) for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at No. 12 ranked Mount Union.