Bethany escapes Marietta with a 62-55 victory in men's basketball
Rucker pulls down a career-high 12 rebounds

Dec. 13, 2006
MARIETTA, Ohio — Senior center Matt Rucker (Proctorville/Chesapeake) grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and junior forward Matt Phillips (Williamson, W.Va./Tug Valley) scored 20 points in Marietta College's 62-55 loss to visiting Bethany (W.Va.) College Wednesday (Dec. 13) night at Ban Johnson Arena. [Box Score]

The Pioneers (2-4) had their chances late and trailed by a bucket with 1:31 to play. Unfortunately, the shots didn't fall, mostly at the free throw line where Marietta finished just 3-of-11 (.273), including 3-of-8 in the final 3:30. The Bison (7-3) did just enough down the stretch to hold onto the slim victory.

Marietta finished the evening 23-of-64 (.359) from the field, including 6-of-17 (.353) from beyond the arc. Bethany shot 23-of-50 (.460) from the floor, including 7-of-16 (.438) from long range, to go along with 9-of-15 (.600) from the charity stripe.

The Pioneers, who had 17 second-chance points, dominated the boards, out rebounding the Bison 48-26, including 19-2 on the offensive end. Marietta ended with 16 turnovers while Bethany had nine.

Phillips had eight rebounds to go along with his 20 points, which was two shy of his career-high. Rucker also had nine points and three assists in the game. In addition, sophomores Steve Luckhardt (St. Clairsville/Shadyside) and Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) had seven and six points, respectively.

Bethany was led by James Wallace with 19 points, while Ryan Besancon added 14 points and nine rebounds and Brody Jackson ad 11 points.

Marietta dives back into Ohio Athletic Conference play Saturday (Dec. 16) when it visits Baldwin-Wallace for a 3 p.m. tip-off.

Senior Matt Rucker had a career-high 12 rebounds Wednesday evening

Box Score