Nov. 16, 2007
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Head Coach Jon VanderWal’s Marietta College men’s basketball team showed its youth Friday (Nov. 16) night in a 89-82 loss to host Gettysburg College in the first round of the Days Inn Tip-off Tournament.

The Pioneers (0-1) nearly overcame their early excitement, which allowed the Bullets (1-0) to build a 20-point first half lead. Unfortunately, Marietta ran out of time in its attempt to give VanderWal a win in his head-coaching debut.

With the win, Gettysburg advanced to Saturday afternoon’s championship game against Messiah College, who defeated Wesley College 73-63 in the first game of the four-team tournament.

Marietta took its only lead of the game in the opening minute when senior center Adam Rockhold (Olmsted Falls) made a layup to break the scoreless tie 27 seconds into the contest. Seven turnovers over the next seven minutes helped Gettysburg take 22-7 advantage with 13:36 to play in the half. The lead grew to 21 points, 37-16, before the Pioneers closed the half on a 17-6 run to enter halftime down 46-33.

The Pioneers, who turned the ball over 11 times, shot 11-of-35 (.314) from the field, including 6-of-15 (.400) from beyond the arc, in the first half. The Bullets, who gave the ball away eight times, went 18-of-29 (.621) from the floor, including 5-of-10 (.500) from long range in the first 20 minutes.

Gettysburg’s lead remained in double digits until junior guard Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) and freshman Nathan Edick (Westerville/Thomas Worthington) nailed back-to-back three pointers, cutting Marietta’s deficit to eight points, 63-55, with 7:19 remaining on the clock.

A three-point play from Creasap with 63 seconds left in the game pulled the Pioneers within six points, 79-73, but the Bullets hit all eight free throws down the stretch to hold on to the seven-point victory.

Marietta ended the game 29-of-70 (.414) from the floor, including 13-of-29 (.448) from beyond the arc. The Pioneers, who finished with 22 turnovers, also went 11-of-13 (.846) from the line. Gettysburg, who had 15 turnovers, finished 31-of-56 (.554) from the field. It hit 5-of-17 (.294) from long range and 22-of-30 (.733) from the charity stripe. Marietta out-rebounded Gettysburg 36-34, including 12-5 on the offensive boards.

Four Pioneers reached double figures in the loss. Creasap paced the team with 17 points and six assists. Edick, who went 5-of-7 from long range, finished with 15 points in his Pioneer debut. Rockhold and freshman Justin Floyd (Redford, Mich.) both added 12 points. Freshman Bradley Hinton (McDonald) led the rebounding effort with eight rebounds, while Rockhold added seven boards.

Dan Capkin, who scored a career-high 27 points and added six assists, led Gettysburg in scoring, while Andrew Powers contributed 22 points. Joe Spierenburg added 13 points and 11 boards in the win.

Marietta will look to get into the win column on Saturday (Nov. 17) afternoon when it takes on Wesley in the consolation game. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. The action can be heard live locally in Marietta on WMRT-FM 88.3 and online at http://pioneers.marietta.edu/onlinebroadcasts.html. Live statistics are also available at http://livestats.internetconsult.com/gettysburg/mbball/.

Junior Isaiah Creasap had 17 points in Marietta's loss to Gettysburg on Friday

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