Marietta escapes New Concord despite late push by Muskies

Despite a second-half surge that saw the Muskingum men's basketball team pull within one point of Marietta with under 30 seconds remaining, the Pioneers managed to hang on for a 68-65 victory inside the Steele Center. 

The Basics

• Records: Muskingum (1-19 Overall, 1-12 OAC), Marietta (13-7 Overall, 8-5 OAC)
• Location: Steele Center – New Concord, Ohio
• Attendance: 250 

Notables

• Despite trailing by as many as 15 points with under 10 minutes remaining, Muskingum managed to trim the Pioneer lead all the way to one off a three-pointer from sophomore DJ Donnell with 24 seconds remaining.
• Marietta would hit two free-throws in the closing seconds of the game to fend off the Muskies and seal their victory.
• Muskingum volleyball alum Emma Conrad was honored at halftime of the contest for being named a CSC First Team Academic All-American. Conrad becomes just the seventh student-athlete in program history to earn Academic All-America honors.

Inside the Numbers

• The Muskies were led by sophomore DJ Donnell with 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists off the bench.
• Freshman Kaelan Pulliam notched 10 points and four rebounds for the Muskies, while freshman Duane Davis finished with nine points, six assists, and six rebounds.
• Junior Luken Hill and sophomore Zaveon Croff both finished with seven points for the Muskies. Hill added five rebounds and three assists, while Croff chipped in four rebounds of his own.
• Senior Noah Begue knocked down three triples for nine points, and freshman Logan Stotzer added three points for Muskingum as well.
• Marietta was led by Cooper Parrott with 19 points and two rebounds, while Jack Main added nine points and six rebounds off the bench for the Pioneers.
• As a team, the muskies finished 25-for-60 (41.7%) from the field, while Marietta shot 25-for-64 (39.1%) from the floor.
• The Pioneers knocked down 14-of-28 (50%) of their three-points on the night, while Muskingum hit 8-of-27 (29.6%) from downtown.
• Both teams finished gridlocked on rebounds and assists on the night. The two squads tallied 40 rebounds and 16 assists each.
• Both teams also had an identical number of turnovers with 11. Muskingum managed to turn those turnovers into 14 points, while Marietta managed to record 10 points off turnovers.
• Muskingum controlled the play down low, finishing with a 32-18 edge in points in the paint; while Marietta outscored Muskingum 13-5 in second chance points.

Up Next

• The Muskies will be back in action on Saturday, February 4, when they host Heidelberg for OAC action inside the Steele Center. Tip-off is slated for 2:00 p.m., and Muskingum's 2023 Athletic Hall of Fame class will be honored at halftime.