WOOSTER, Ohio. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team handed No. 6 Marietta its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Pioneers 88-80 on day one of the Great Lakes Invitational.

THE RUNDOWN

Final Score: Salisbury 88, Marietta College, 80
Records: Salisbury (5-8) | Marietta (8-1)
Location:  Timken Gymnasium – Wooster, Ohio

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Salisbury set the tone early on back-to-back field goals by Johnny Fierstein and Lucas Martin in the opening 30 seconds of the game.
• Leading since the start of the game, the Sea Gulls took their largest lead of the first half with a little over seven minutes remaining on a Devin Garrett layup that pushed the score to 34-22.
• A Gary Briddell layup with 2:54 remaining sparked a 14-0 run by the maroon and gold, giving it a commanding 55-31 lead and the teams headed into halftime.
• Salisbury opened the second half behind a D'Angelo Tull three-pointer a little over two minutes in to push the Sea Gull lead to 27.
• Marietta began to find its shot with 15 minutes to play. Trailing 63-38, a Christian James jumper kicked off a 20-5 Pioneer run, pulling the team to within 10 at 68-58 with 10 minutes to play.
• Still trailing by 10 with 3:49 to go the game, Marietta's Jason Ellis scored a jumper to shrink the Salisbury lead to single digits for the first time since the 6:20 mark in the first half at 75-67.
• However, a Cameron Heard layup kicked off a 13-11 Salisbury run to close out the game as the Sea Gulls defeated the Pioneers, 88-80. 

GAME NOTES

• Three Sea Gulls notched double figures with Gary Briddell leading the way while setting a new career high with 35 points. Briddell went 12-for-13 from the floor, including 5-for-5 from three-point range, while collecting three rebounds and dishing out two assists.
• Mike Ward and Lucas Martin had similar lines, with each notching 13 points, grabbing four rebounds, and shooting 4-for-9 from the floor.
• Johnny Fierstein pulled in a game-high 12 rebounds while adding five assists.
• Salisbury held the advantage in shooting, going 30-for-57 (52.6%) from the field compared to the Pioneers' 27-for-75 (36.0%), and 12-for-25 (48.0%) from behind the line compared to Marietta's 8-for-38 (21.1%)
• Marietta edged Salisbury in free throws with 18-for-24 (75%) accuracy compared to the Sea Gulls' 16-for-23 (69.6%).

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will finish the Great Lakes Invitational tournament tomorrow against the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops.
• The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
• Video and live stats are available.