Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 69, Defiance 55

Junior guard Taylor Rieger (Lewis Center/Olentangy Orange) scored 10 points and senior guard Andy Winters (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) added 9 points and 5 assists during the first half as Ohio Wesleyan built a 40-20 lead and went on to defeat Defiance in the first round of the Marietta Shrine Tournament, hosted by Marietta College on Friday in Marietta.

Ohio Wesleyan advances to Saturday's championship game to face the winner of Friday's nightcap between Frostburg (Md.) State and Marietta.

The Bishops trailed, 10-9, just under 9 minutes into the action when Rieger's jumper kicked off a 10-0 run that put the Bishops ahead to stay.  Junior post Reuel Rogers (Columbus/Bexley) followed with a jumper, then Rieger canned a 3-pointer and another jumper for an 18-10 Bishop lead, with 9:11 left in the period.

Mason Roth's lay-in ended the Bishop run, but senior wing Anjuwon Spence (Cranston, R.I./Moses Brown) answered with a 3-pointer, and after a dunk by senior wing Vaughn Spaulding (Reynoldsburg), a Winters jumper, and another Spence 3-pointer, Ohio Wesleyan held a 29-17 lead with 4:31 remaining, and Rieger and senior post Marshall Morris (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) hit 3-pointers during the final 2 minutes of the period for a 40-20 halftime lead.

Defiance opened the second half with 7 straight points, including a 3-pointer by Travis Schomaeker, but that was as close as the Yellow Jackets would come.

Junior wing Dre White (Lima/Bath) knocked down a 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to 20 points, and the Bishops still led by 20 after White's jumper with 2:05 left in regulation time before Defiance scored the final 6 points of the game.

Winters and Rieger shared the Bishop lead with 14 points apiece, with Winters adding a game-best 8 assists.  Morris finished with 12 points.  Rogers led all players with a career-high 17 rebounds.

Bernard Edwards led Defiance with 17 points and 10 boards.

Box Score