BEREA, Ohio – Senior three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored 16 points, but the Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team lost to OAC rival Marietta College, 91-80, in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium on Seniors' & Parents' Day.
With its loss, the Yellow Jackets are 12-11 overall and 8-8 in the OAC. BW also received senior two-time All-OAC guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/ Holy Name) had 14 point, senior guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland) had 12 and senior backup forward Skyler Simpson (Centerburg) had a career-high 11. Payne now has 1,514 career points and stands 10th on the Yellow Jacket all-time scoring list. Krakowiak now has 1,310 career points and stands 16th all-time. Marietta, now 18-5 and 13-3 in the OAC, had six players score double figures and was led by sophomore guard RaNeal Ewing with 19 points.
In the first half, Marietta grabbed a 8-0 lead at 17:03 when junior guard Brennan McKean made a layup. The lead grew to nine points at 16-7 at 12:16 when sophomore forward Eddie Grenert made two foul shots. BW cut the deficit to 21-18 at 9:30 when Simpson canned the first of three first half three-pointers.
The Pioneers went on a 16-8 run to build the second of two 11-point bulges at 37-26 at 3:17 when freshman forward A.J. Edwards made a layup. The Yellow Jackets responded with a 14-2 run to take a 40-39 lead 58 seconds before halftime when Fairhurst canned his fourth three-pointer of the half. The game was tied 42-42 at the intermission.
In the second half, BW scored the first three points to take a 45-42 lead at 19:02 when Payne made a layup. BW's last lead was 49-46 at 15:52 when Krakowiak hit a jumper.
The Pioneers tied the game at 49-49 at 15:26 at built a 10-point lead at 79-69 at 2:48 when sophomore guard Luis Garcia made a triple. The largest Marietta lead was 12 points at 89-77 with 26 seconds left.
The Yellow Jackets next play on Wednesday, February 19 when they travel to Tiffin, Ohio and play Heidelberg University in the Seiberling Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. BW ends the 2014 regular season on Saturday, Feb. 22 when they travel to New Concord, Ohio to play Muskingum University at 3:00 p.m.
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
Photo Courtesy of Mark Selmek
