Marietta escapes Muskingum's upset bid

Marietta withstood a stiff challenge from Muskingum on Wednesday night narrowly escaping New Concord with an 84-74 Ohio Athletic Conference opening win.

Senior Logan Kimble led the Muskies with 17 points, three assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Junior Christian Keller added 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Joshua Glass chipped in a 14-rebound, three-assist performance.

Muskingum (2-4, 0-1) ended the outing shooting .424 (25-of-59) from the field.

The Pioneers were paced by Eddie Grenert and Garrett Stephenson who each recorded a double-double. Grenert had 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Stephenson added 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Luis Garcia scored 19 points and Keith Richardson had 17 points to round out the Marietta effort.

Marietta (6-0, 1-0) shot .386 (27-of-70) from the floor and owned a 52-32 advantage in rebounds. The Pioneers ended the outing with a 35-14 edge in bench points.

Muskingum opened the contest with a 9-2 spurt. Marietta fought back and tied the outing at 23-23 with 10:03 on the clock. The Pioneers ended the final 7:42 of the half on a 14-7 run to take a 39-32 lead into the break.

The Muskies opened the second half with a 12-5 run to tie the game at 44-44 with 17:01 to play. The game remained tight until Marietta used a 7-2 surge over a three-minute span to take a 69-62 lead with 6:08 on the clock. The Pioneers maintained the edge and pushed its lead to double figures in the final minute of play.

Muskingum next travels to Heidelberg on Saturday, December 6. Game time is slated for 3:00 p.m.