Chris Luther

Junior Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) scored a season-high 24 points against Marietta College on Wednesday night but it wasn't enough as four Pioneers scored in double-digits to lift Marietta to an 84-71 victory at Ban Johnson Arena in Marietta, Ohio.

The early stages of the first half were played closely by both squads. Up 13-10 with 15:29 left in the opening half, Marietta went on an 18-9 run over the next eight minutes to open up a 12-point lead. Denison was able to methodically shrink the margin over the final seven minutes of the first period, trimming the margin to three on a Casey Stockton (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) three pointer with 57 seconds left in the half.

After DU cut the deficit to one (39-38) to open the second frame, the Pioneers' offense erupted and was able to build up another 12-point advantage. Denison stayed in the contest and eventually closed the gap to two (71-69) after a layup by senior Pat Sullivan (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland). However that's as close as the Big Red got thanks to a 13-2 game-ending run by Marietta.

Luther shot 8-of-15 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe en route to his 24 tallies. First-year Jim Leffew (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) and Stockton each chipped in nine points.

Trevor Halter led the Pioneers with 19 points while Isaiah Creasap chipped in 16 tallies. Joe Puch and Zane Carter also added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Additionally, Carter grabbed 13 boards, blocked four shots and had a four steals on the night.

Marietta shot 27-of-50 (54 percent) from the floor compared to Denison's 26-of-60 (43 percent) performance. The Pionners held a 35-26 edge on the glass.

The Big Red fall to 1-4 on the season while Marietta improves to 3-2. DU returns to action on Saturday (Dec. 6) when they host Allegheny College in their conference opener. Tip-off at Livingston Gymnasium is slated for 3 p.m.