Marietta men defeat host Heidelberg 70-69
Lutes scores a career-high 24 points in victory

Dec. 20, 2008
TIFFIN, Ohio — Head Coach Jon VanderWal and his Marietta College men’s basketball squad celebrated their first Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) victory of the season on Saturday (Dec. 20) afternoon, defeating host Heidelberg College 70-69 at Seiberling Gymnasium. Both teams moved their record to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in the OAC.

After suffering two heartbreaking road losses to Wilmington College and Otterbein College over the last week, Marietta held off Heidelberg’s second half rally to pull out the win, which snapped a six-game losing streak in the series.

Marietta led 37-26 at the half only for Heidelberg to battle back and take a 69-66 lead as the teams entered the final minute of the game. Freshman guard Kyle Lindquist (Columbus/Kilbourne) made a layup with 54 seconds on the clock to pull the Pioneers within a point, 69-68. A defensive stop gave Marietta the ball back with 37 second remaining. After a Pioneer timeout, freshman wing Trevor Halter (Malvern) scored a layup with 17 seconds to give Marietta back the lead, 70-69. Heidelberg managed four shots in the final seven seconds but failed to connect on all of them and Marietta escaped with the one-point win.

Junior post Daun Lutes (New Matamoras/Frontier) paced all players with a career-high 24 points. Lutes, who added eight rebounds, finished 8-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free throw line. Halter added 14 points, eight boards and three blocks, while freshman post Conner Kilpatrick (Bowling Green) contributed 12 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Senior wing Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern), who needs just 25 points to reach 1,000 for his career, was held scoreless for just the third time in his career and for the first time in 25 games. Oddly enough, his last scoreless game also came against Heidelberg. Creasap, however, did dish out a game-high six assists in the win.

Heidelberg starters Travis Kinn, Kyle Tuley and Jake Hessey all reached double figures in the game. Kinn and Tuley both had 13 points, while Hessey finished with 12. John Miller and Chance Farnsworth both contributed eight points off the bench in the loss.

Marietta finished the game 26-of-59 (.441) from the field, including 2-of-14 (.143) from three-point range. The Pioneers did connect on 16-of-20 (.800) from the line. Heidelberg went 27-of-63 (.429) from the floor, 4-of-14 (.286) from beyond the arc and 11-of-19 (.579) from the free throw line. The Student Princes out-rebounded the Pioneers 38-36, and both teams had 14 turnovers in the game.

Marietta returns to action on Monday (Dec. 29) evening when the Pioneers host Brevard (N.C.) College, Emory & Henry (Va.) College and Westminster (Pa.) College for the 38th annual Marietta Shrine Tournament. Action inside Ban Johnson Arena begins when Brevard takes on Emory & Henry at 6 p.m. Marietta will then play Westminster at 8 p.m. The consolation game is slated for Tuesday (Dec. 30) at 6 p.m. and the championship game will follow at 8 p.m.

Junior Daun Lutes had a career-high 24 points in the win at Heidelberg.

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