Marietta men fall 85-70 at #8 Capital
Trevor Halter leads Pioneers with 17 points

Feb. 4, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Wednesday (Feb. 4) night, the Marietta College men's basketball team battled #8 Capital University in their second meeting in a two-week span. Once again, the Pioneers hung with the first place Crusaders only to fall in the end, 85-70. Capital (18-2, 11-2 OAC) defeated Marietta (10-10, 5-8 OAC) 84-75 in the initial meeting on Jan. 21.

The two teams traded baskets during the initial minutes of the first half; Capital led 17-15 with 10:47 to go in the period. Back-to-back three-pointers from Ross Niekamp helped the Crusaders stretch the lead to 10 points, 25-15, with 8:24 to play before halftime . A Trevor Halter (Malvern) three-pointer sparked the Pioneers' 8-1 run over the next two minutes to pull them within one possession, 26-23. Capital regained its momentum, however, and went into the locker room on top by seven points, 41-34.

The Pioneers started the second half on a 13-5 run to take a 47-46 lead with 16:15 to play in the game. A pair of Crusaders free throws put the home team back up one, 48-47, with 15:59 left on the clock. The Crusaders would not look back as they extended their lead to to as many as 17 points, 85-68, with 1:57 to go and went on to win, 85-70.

Halter paced the Pioneers with 17 points and a team-high three assists. Senior guard Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) followed with 14 points for the Pioneers, hitting 4-of-9 from long range. Freshman center Conner Kilpatrick (Bowling Green) chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds, while Kevin Knab (Lakewood) had eight points and seven boards in the loss.

Ryan Wood led the Crusaders with a game-high 24 points, hitting 4-of-4 from three-point range. Nate Stahl followed with 15 points, while Quinton Mitchell chipped in with 12 points off the bench. Mitchell also collected a team-high six rebounds in the win.

The Pioneers shot 27-of-48 (563) from the field, 9-of-19 (.474) from three-point range and 7-of-9 (.778) from the free throw line. Capital finished 28-of-49 (.571) from the field, 10-of-15 (.667) from behind the arc and 19-of-26 (.731) from free throw line. The Pioneers out-rebounded the Crusaders 25-23 but committed 19 turnovers to Capital's 12.

Marietta is back in action on Saturday (Feb. 7) afternoon when the Pioneers play a Winter Weekend doubleheader against visiting Heidelberg University. The women’s game will begin at 1 p.m. and the men’s game will follow at 3 p.m.

Trevor Halter had 17 points in the loss to Capital.

Box Score