WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Marietta College jumped out to an early first-half lead, but host Otterbein College battled back to earn the 78-69 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) men's basketball victory Wednesday (Feb. 17) night. [Box Score]

The Pioneers, (10-14, 6-11 OAC) led by 13 points, 27-14, with 7:53 to play in the first period. The Cardinals (7-17, 5-12 OAC) closed the half with a 19-9 run to enter intermission trailing by just three points, 36-33.

Marietta pushed the advantage back to double-digits, 43-33, two minutes into the final half. Otterbein then went on a 31-12 run over the next 10 minutes to take its own double-digit lead, 64-53. The Pioneers did not come within six points over the final 7:47, and the Cardinals captured the 78-69 win.

Sophomore Trevor Halter (Malvern, Malvern) hit four of Marietta's eight three-pointers and scored a team-best 25 points.Classmate Kevin Knab (Lakewood, Lakewood) added another double-double, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman Brian Crader (Thornville, Sheridan) and sophomore Joe Puch (Brunswick, Brunswick) both contributed seven points in the loss.

Otterbein's Brian Pollack led all scorers with 26 points. Brice Rausch added 18 points, Cory Ratai finished with 16 points and Chris Davis had nine points and 13 rebounds in the win.

Marietta, who has secured the eighth seed in next week's OAC Tournament, closes out the regular season on Saturday (Feb. 20) afternoon with a trip to Wilmington College. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. The Pioneers will then open OAC Tournament play at top-seeded John Carroll University on Wednesday (Feb. 24) at 7:30 p.m.