Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) scored 24 points and helped mount a furious second half comeback but a 24-point first half deficit would prove to be too much to overcome as Marietta College held on for a 78-70 victory over the Denison Big Red to open the 2010-11 season.

The Pioneers jumped out to a 17-point lead in the opening five minutes of play and they continued to pull away as the first half rolled on.  With just 2:47 left in the half, a Kevin Knab basket put Marietta up 43-19.  That bucket would spur the Big Red on an 8-0 run to close the half.

In the second half the Pioneers kept a double-digit lead until midway through the period when DU went on a 12-2 run thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers by Mike Garabedian (LaGrange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) and Casey Stockton (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and two buckets by Hale and Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township).  Trailing 55-48 with 11:48 to play after Garabedian's triple, that seven-point deficit would be as close as DU would get.

Marietta's Joe Puch answered with eight-straight points over the next 57 seconds, putting an end to the Denison comeback.

Puch finished with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.  The Pioneers were led in scoring by Trevor Halter's 26 points. Knab chipped in a double-double performance with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Hale's 24 points came off a 9-of-13 shooting performance.  He also added six rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes.  Garabedian followed with 14 points and six rebounds while Farmer added eight points and seven rebounds.

Denison will return to action on Wednesday (Nov. 17) when they host Earlham College at 7:30 p.m.