Championship Game: Westminster 98, Marietta 73
MARIETTA, Ohio — The outside shooting of Most Valuable Player Ryne Murray and his teammates powered Westminster (Pa.) to a 98-73 victory over host Marietta College Saturday (Dec. 30) afternoon in the championship game of the 36th annual Shrine Tournament, which was being hosted by the Holiday Inn and Schob Team Sports. [Box Score]

The victory improves the Titans' record to 7-5, while the Pioneers fall to 4-7. It was the first Shrine title for Westminster, while Marietta finished runners-up for the second straight year.

Westminster, who runs a similar scheme to Marietta's Fun & Gun of the past two seasons, shot the lights out in the first half and cruised to the victory. The Titans connected on 11-of-22 (.500) three-pointers in the first 20 minutes to help them take a 55-33 lead into intermission. Outside shots were harder to come by in the second stanza, as Westminster hit just 2-of-14 (.143) from long range, but it still outscored Marietta in the final half 43-40.

The Titans finished the game shooting 33-of-64 (.516) from the field, 13-of-36 (.361) from beyond the arc and 19-of-24 (.792) from the line. The Pioneers shot 24-of-66 (.364) from the floor, 9-of-21 (.429) from long range and 16-of-25 (.640) from the charity stripe. Both teams collected 39 rebounds and had 12 turnovers in the game.

Murray, a freshman, paced the Titans with a double-double, 23 points and 11 rebounds. It was his second double-double of the tournament. Senior Dom Joseph (All-Tournament) added 15 points while senior Nick Adams had 13 and sophomore Steve Bielich contributed 12 in the win.

Marietta was led by sophomores Isaiah Creasap, who scored a career-high 25 points, and Tyler Morando, who finished with 12 points. Both earned All-Tournament honors. Junior Kyle Reed added seven points and eight rebounds off the bench.

The Pioneers dive back into Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play Wednesday (Jan. 3) when they play host to Mount Union at 7:30 p.m.

Consolation Game: Lynchburg 80, Olivet 76
MARIETTA, Ohio — Four players reached double figures to help Lynchburg (Va.) top Olivet (Mich.). 80-76, in the consolation game of the 36th annual Marietta Shrine Tournament, sponsored by the Holiday Inn and Schob Team Sports Saturday (Dec. 30) afternoon. [Box Score]

Neither team led by more than seven points in a game that had 14 lead changes. The Hornets, who led 34-33 at intermission, took the lead for good on a free throw with 7:18 to play in the contest and held on for the win.

Peter Vasiliou's 24 points and nine rebounds led Lynchburg, who shot 28-of-60 (.467) from the field, 3-of-13 (.231) from long range and 21-of-28 (.750) from the line. In addition, Kwame Safo and Danny Reed each had 13 points and All-Tournament Team honoree Steven Echols added 11 points.

All-Tournament Team honoree Jeff Cooper, who had 11 points, was one of three players to score at least 10 points for Olivet, who finished 24-of-55 (.436) from the floor, 11-of-32 (.344) from beyond the arc and 17-of-28 (.607) from the charity stripe. Andy Sierminiski had a team-high 21 points and Bryan Dutton added 11 points and seven boards.

 

Game 2: Marietta 84, Lynchburg 68
MARIETTA, Ohio — Sophomores Isaiah Creasap and Tyler Morando each connected on five three-pointers and Marietta College advanced to the championship game of the 36th annual Marietta Shrine Tournament with a 84-68 victory over Lynchburg (Va.) Friday (Dec. 29) evening at Fenton Court. The weekend is being hosted by the Holiday Inn and Schob Team Sports. [Box Score]

The victory improves the Pioneers' record to 4-6 while Lynchburg falls to 2-6. Marietta, who has made the finals for the second straight year, will look to win its 16th tournament title and first since 2001 when it plays host to Westminster (Pa.) Friday (Dec. 30) at 4 p.m. The Titans advanced with a 80-67 victory over Olivet (Mich.) in the first game of the four-team tournament. Lynchburg and Olivet will go head-to-head in the consolation game Friday at 2 p.m.

Marietta jumped out to a 45-28 halftime advantage by shooting 15-of-26 (.577) from the field, including 8-of-16 (.500) from long range. Lynchburg managed just 9-of-34 (.265) from the floor in the first 20 minutes. The Pioneers extended their lead to 28 points on a jumper by freshman Jordan Johnson with 12:12 to play, and the Hornets never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

The Pioneers, who turned the ball over 25 times and out rebounded the Hornets 39-37, finished the night shooting 58.1% (25-of-43) from the field, 45.8% (11-of-24) from three-point range and 67.6% (23-of-34) from the line. Lynchburg shot 22-of-71 (.310) from the floor, 7-of-22 (.318) from beyond the arc and 17-of-27 (.630) from the charity stripe.

Morando led all scorers with 19 points, while Creasap added 15 and junior forward Matt Phillips had 13. In addition, sophomore Steve Luckhardt (nine points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals), senior Matt Rucker (eight points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three assists) and junior Kyle Reed (eight points, five rebounds and three blocks) had solid all-around games.

Three Hornets finished in double figures. Danny Reed had a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds. Steven Echols added 14 points and four steals, while Drew Norris contributed 10 points in the loss.

Game 1: Westminster 80, Olivet 67
MARIETTA, Ohio — Dom Joseph hit five three-pointers in the first half and finished with a game-high 19 points to lead Westminster (Pa.) College past a scrappy Olivet (Mich.) College squad, 80-67, in the first game of the 36th annual Marietta College Shrine Tournament, which is being hosted by the Holiday Inn and Schob Team Sports. [Box Score]

With the win, the Titans improved to 6-5 and advance to Friday's championship game at 4 p.m. The Comets, who fall to 2-7, will play in the consolation game at 2 p.m.

Westminster shot 10-of-22 (.455) from long range in the first half to jump out to a 45-33 halftime lead. For the game, the Titans finished 28-of-64 (.438) from the field, including 13-of-40 (.325) from deep. Olivet, meanwhile, shot 28-of-62 (.444) from the field, but just 4-of-23 (.174) from beyond the arc. Westminster won the rebounding edge 41-33.

Ryne Murray added a double-double, 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Nick Adams had 11 points for Westminster. Olivet was paced by Jeff Cooper with 15 points, while Joel Kerns and Brandon Way contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively.