Marietta men denied in upset bid at Wilmington
Quakers hold off Pioneers 66-63

Dec. 13, 2008
WILMINGTON, Ohio — The Marietta College men's basketball team had a chance to upset host Wilmington College on Saturday (Dec. 13) afternoon, but the Quakers held on for a 66-63 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory at Fred Raizk Arena. The loss dropped the Pioneers' record to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in league play. The Quakers improved to 5-3, 2-1 in the OAC.

Freshman post Zane Carter (Wellsville) paced Marietta with 13 points and seven rebounds. Senior post Matt Kubachka (Shade/Alexander) added season-high 11 points and six boards. Freshmen Trevor Halter (Malvern), Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Kilbourne), Joe Puch (Brunswick) and Conner Kilpatrick (Bowling Green) all had eight points in the loss.

Brandon Rogers led Wilmington with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds. Justin Gaines added 16 points, while Kevin Colson contributed 12 points in the win.

Wilmington opened up a 24-14 lead with 8:24 to play in the first half. Marietta, however, went on a 11-1 run over the next 3:07. A jumper by Kilpatrick tied the game at 25-25 with 5:17 remaining in the period. The Pioneers then took a 31-30 lead on a Carter jumper with 1:53 left on the clock, but the Quakers answered with a bucket on their next possession to take a 32-31 advantage into intermission.

Marietta scored the first basket of the second half to go back on top, 33-32. Wilmington regained the lead for good, 34-33, after Rogers hit a jumper. The Quakers steadily built their lead up to 12 points, 57-45, with 7:38 to play in the game. Marietta then went on a 15-4 run over the next 5:37 to close within one point, 61-60, with 2:01 remaining. The teams then traded baskets to make the score 63-62 as they entered the final minute. A tip-in by Rogers following his own missed free throw extended Wilmington's lead to three points, 65-62. Puch hit 1-of-2 from the line with 13 seconds left to inch Marietta closer only for Colson to match the effort from the line with eight seconds on the clock to push the lead back to three points. Marietta had one final shot but a Halter three-pointer was off the mark and Wilmington escaped with a three-point victory.

The Pioneers finished the game by shooting 24-of-49 (.490) from the field, including 3-of-14 (.214) from three-point range. Marietta, who had 18 turnovers, added 12-of-21 (.571) from the free throw line. Wilmington shot 24-of-47 (.511) from the floor, 3-of-13 (.250) from long range and 15-of-25 (.600) from the line. The Quakers overcame 15 turnovers. Marietta won the battle of the boards by out-rebounding Wilmington 31-30.

Marietta is back in action on Wednesday (Dec. 17) evening went it visits Westerville for a tip-off with Otterbein College at 7:30 p.m.

Freshman Zane Carter had 13 points and seven boards against Wilmington.

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