Shooting woes doom Pioneers in OAC opener
Marietta falls at Heidelberg 102-84

Dec. 3, 2005
TIFFIN, Ohio – The Marietta College men’s basketball team opened Ohio Athletic Conference action Saturday (Dec. 3) with a 102-84 loss to host Heidelberg. As is common in the Fun & Gun system, the Pioneers’ success is directly associated to how they shoot from the long distance. However, it was what they did at the charity stripe that was the story of the game Saturday, as Marietta managed to hit just 13-of-27 (.481) from the line. When combined with a 13-of-47 (.277) performance from beyond the arc, it was a frustrating afternoon for head coach Doug Foote’s squad.

With the loss, the Pioneers fall to 2-4 overall, 0-1 in league play, while the Student Princes improved to 4-2 on the year, 1-0 in the OAC.

Despite the poor shooting, Marietta found itself in the ball game, down just 91-81 with three minutes to play in the game. The Pioneers, could not get it any closer down the stretch, as the Student Princes closed the game on a 11-3 run to secure the victory in both team’s conference opener.

As a team, Marietta finished 29-of-87 (.333) from the field, while Heidelberg went 40-of-65 (.615) from the floor, including 8-of-17 (.471) from three-point range. The Student Princes also struggle from the line, connecting on 14-of-27 (.471) from the charity stripe.

Heidelberg won the battle of the boards, 55-40. Marietta had 21 offensive boards, while Heidelberg finished with 13. The Student Princes committed 27 turnovers, while the Pioneers had 15 steals and turned over the ball 13 times.

Six players finished in double figures for Heidelberg and it was led by Greg Tyson with 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists. Ron Higgins (18 points and 13 rebounds) and Andrew Lemmon (13 points and 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles.

Marietta was paced by sophomore Craig Stewart (Circleville) with 16 points, junior Chad Sponseller (Canton/GlenOak) with 15 points and junior Ryan Wilkinson (Wilmington/Clinton Massie) with 11 points, six assists and four steals.

Marietta will look to bounce back against a tough Capital squad Wednesday (Dec. 7). Tip-off against the Crusaders is slated for 7:30 p.m. in Columbus.

Junior Ryan Wilkinson had 11 points in the loss to Heidelberg Saturday

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