ALLIANCE, Ohio—The Mount Union men's basketball returned to its home court Wednesday evening but was unable to snap a four-game skid, losing 67-55 to Marietta at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.

The Purple Raiders (8-14, 4-11) and Pioneers traded baskets in the opening minutes of the contest and the score was tied at 21 with 5:50 to play in the first half. Marietta finished the half on a 13-3 run to take a 33-24 lead into halftime.

A pair of free throws by senior Jimmy Wood (Wintersville/Indian Creek) trimmed the Raider deficit to five with 8:47 to play, but that is as close as they would get. Marietta responded with a 14-4 run over the next three-minutes-and-change for a commanding 61-46 lead.

Sophomore T.J. Gillespie (Toledo/St. John's) fueled the Raiders early as he led all scorers with 11 points at halftime. He finished the game with 13 points and matched a season-best with four rebounds. Wood was the catalyst of the Raider offense in the second half, scoring 15 of his game-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes.   

Marietta (15-7, 10-5) was also led by a different player in each half. Junior J.J. Martin made a pair of three-pointers on his way to 10 points and five rebounds in the first half while senior Kevin Knab scored 11 points, including nine-of-ten from the charity stripe, and grabbed 11 rebounds in the second half. Martin finished with 13 points while Knab had a team-high 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Mount Union hosts Ohio Northern Saturday afternoon at 3 pm.

Newspaper Box Score

Marietta vs Mount Union
02/08/12 7:30 pm at The MAAC - Alliance, Ohio
At The MAAC - Alliance, Ohio

MARIETTA 67, MOUNT UNION 55

MARIETTA (15-7, 10-5 OAC)
Kevin Knab 3-6 10-11 16; J.J. Martin 5-9 1-2 13; Brennan McKean 3-10 0-3 9;
Joe Puch 2-6 1-2 7; Tyler Hammond 1-3 4-4 7; Trevor Halter 2-6 1-2 6; Conner
Kilpatrick 2-4 1-2 5; Tyler Worstell 1-2 2-2 4; Jason Humphrey 0-0 0-0 0;
Andy Stegman 0-0 0-0 0; Jacob Owens 0-1 0-0 0; Scott Kimmey 0-0 0-0 0; Brian
Crader 0-0 0-0 0; George Bloomfield 0-0 0-0 0; Garrett Stephenson 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 19-47 20-28 67.

MOUNT UNION (8-14, 4-11 OAC)
Jimmy Wood 5-13 7-9 20; T.J. Gillespie 4-9 4-7 13; Nate Jacubec 2-9 3-4 7;
Stevie Griffin 1-8 1-2 4; Keith Williams 2-2 0-1 4; Justen Little 1-2 0-0 3;
Matt Piloto 1-3 0-4 2; Matt Kiger 1-4 0-0 2; Matt Wier 0-0 0-0 0; Jimmy
Darnley 0-1 0-0 0; Clayton Patton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-52 15-27 55.

Marietta......................   33   34  -   67
Mount Union...................   24   31  -   55

3-point goals--Marietta 9-21 (Brennan McKean 3-6; Joe Puch 2-5; J.J. Martin
2-5; Trevor Halter 1-3; Tyler Hammond 1-1; Jacob Owens 0-1), Mount Union
6-23 (Jimmy Wood 3-7; Stevie Griffin 1-5; Justen Little 1-2; T.J. Gillespie
1-5; Clayton Patton 0-1; Nate Jacubec 0-3). Fouled out--Marietta-Jason
Humphrey, Mount Union-Jimmy Darnley. Rebounds--Marietta 47 (Kevin Knab 13),
Mount Union 29 (Matt Piloto 5). Assists--Marietta 12 (Tyler Hammond 3),
Mount Union 7 (Stevie Griffin 3). Total fouls--Marietta 21, Mount Union 22.
Technical fouls--Marietta-None, Mount Union-None. A-511