Marietta sweeps Winter Weekend doubleheader with men's 97-92 victory over Heidelberg

Pioneers break OAC single-season three-point record in win

Feb. 5, 2005
MARIETTA , Ohio - The Pioneers' fans in Ban Johnson Arena were sent home in a frenzy as Marietta completed the Winter Weekend sweep of Heidelberg with a 97-92 victory in the men's game Saturday (Feb. 5). It is the first victory for the Pioneers in Ohio Athletic Conference and their third of the season.

Marietta got a lay-up from its senior leader Matt Hines (Waverly/Eastern Pike) with 16 second remaining in the game to put the Pioneers ahead 94-92 and then the fans held their breath as the Pioneers held on for their first home victory of the season.

Heidelberg (6-15, 3-11 OAC) led 45-42 at the half and was able to increase its lead to 64-51 with 16:17 to go in the game. Marietta put together a 18-5 run to tie the score at 69-69 with just over 11 minutes remaining. The tide turned back and forth down the stretch, with each team holding slim leads, until Hines' bucket gave MC the two-point lead which turned into a 97-92 victory.

Marietta connected on 12-of-52 (23.1%) from beyond the arc to bring its season total to 298-of-999 (29.8%). The 298 three-pointers is a new OAC record, while MC continues to set new Conference heights in three-point field goal attempts.

Sophomore Chad Sponseller (Canton/GlenOak) led the aerial assault with 22 points on 3-of-8 from long range and 7-of-8 from the line.

Hines finished with 18 points and nine boards and moved into ninth place on the Pioneers' all-time scoring list with 1,361 career points.

Senior Chris Fulton (West Milton/Milton Union) and freshman Craig Stewart (Circleville) each hit four three pointers and finished with 12 and 17 points, respectively. Stewart improved his school record in three-point attempts (208) and three-point field goals (74) in the win. Sophomore Matt Rucker (Proctorville/Chesapeake) also added 12 points before fouling out.

Five Student Princes finished in double digits Saturday. Heidelberg was paced by Andrew Lemmon with 17, while T.J. Johnson added 13 points and 12 boards.

The Pioneers will return to action Wednesday (Feb. 9) when the travel to Muskingum for a Coaches. vs. Cancer game at 7:30 p.m.

Senior Matt Hines had the winning bucket Saturday against Heidelberg

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