PHOENIX, Ariz. – Four players reached double figures in scoring to lead the Elmhurst men's basketball team to a 76-72 upset of eighth-ranked Marietta College at the D3 Desert Invitational.
 
The back-and-forth contest featured 12 ties and eight lead changes with neither team leading by more than eight points. The opening half was even at 28-28 after neither team led by more than four points. Marietta grabbed a 28-24 lead with two minutes left but buckets from Jeremy Ireland and Jay Militello pulled Elmhurst (7-4) at the break.
 
With the score even at 34-all in the second, Elmhurst ripped off a 9-1 run, keyed by five points from Militello. Marietta surged back, rattling off a 13-point run over the next three minutes to take its largest lead of the night at five (48-43). A jumper from Jeremy Ireland and three-pointer from Ryan Patton quickly brought Elmhurst even with 10 minutes remaining.
 
The two squads traded buckets for the next three minutes with the score even at 56-56. Five points from Jake Rhode helped fuel an 8-4 Elmhurst run giving the Bluejays a 64-60 lead with five minutes left to play. Marietta managed to trim the lead down to two on five occasions, but Elmhurst answered back every time. Derek Dotlich hit two free throws with 14 seconds to extend Elmhurst's lead back to four. After a Marietta bucket, Dotlich hit two free throws with less than a second remaining to seal the win for Elmhurst.
 
Elmhurst shot 48.3 percent (29-of-60) from the field, including 38.9 percent (29-of-60) from three-point distance (7-of-18). Ireland led the way for Elmhurst with 18 points and eight rebounds, both team highs. Militello came off the bench to finish with 15, shooting 6-of-9 from the floor in the process. Rhode finished with 11 points while Nick Perry added 10 points and four assists for the Bluejays.
 
Marietta shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field but struggled from long range, hitting just 3-of-17 attempts from three-point range (17.6 percent). Tim Kreeger paced Marietta in the loss with 16 points and seven rebounds. Lukas Isaly added 15 points while Kyle Dixon chipped in with 12 points and seven boards.
 
Elmhurst plays the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse tomorrow (December 29) at 4:15 p.m. (MST).