MARIETTA, Ohio – Ban Johnson Arena is the place to be in Southeastern Ohio Wednesday (Nov. 27) evening as two of the top NCAA Division III men's basketball teams will square off at 7:30 p.m. The College of Wooster, ranked No. 3 nationally, invades Fenton court to take on the No. 23 ranked Marietta College Pioneers.
Wooster comes to town with a perfect 3-0 record, while Marietta is currently 4-0 after a pair of road wins last week. The Pioneers are looking to avenge last season's 59-57 loss at Wooster.
"This is an opportunity for the community to see two great basketball teams," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "And, in addition to seeing two nationally ranked teams, fans can help us raise funds to support the Skinner family."
The Baby Steps Benefit for Paisley is the beneficiary of the funds raised at Wednesday's game. Paisley Skinner is the daughter of former Pioneer Thad Skinner and his wife Ashley of Waterford, Ohio.
Paisley was born in May 2013. She suffered her first seizure at three months of age and was hospitalized at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Her condition deteriorated and she began having uncontrollable seizures. Weeks of testing provided no definitive answers as to the cause of Paisley's condition.??An MRI revealed a brain injury to the area of Paisley's brain that can affect mobility, vision, language and much more. Currently, doctors have Paisley's seizures under control with medications.
The Townhouse is hosting a pre-game happy hour and dinner from 4:00-7:00 p.m. Twenty percent of the proceeds during that time will be donated to the Skinner family.?
There will be a silent auction in the Trustee Conference Room overlooking Fenton Court that starts at 6:00 p.m. and runs through halftime of the basketball game. Numerous local businesses have donated items and all money raised from the auction will be donated to the Skinner family.??In addition to the pre-game dinner and auction, Marietta College is donating all gate proceeds to the Skinner family.
The Fighting Scots are fresh off winning the 20th annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Tournament last weekend. Wooster knocked off OAC preseason favorite Baldwin Wallace, 76-71, in the first round and then defeated No. 5 ranked Wheaton (Ill.) by the score of 77-73 in the championship game.
Senior guard Doug Thorpe leads Wooster. Thorpe earned all-tournament honors and North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week after averaging 17.7 points per game in the Scots' first three games of the season.
Thorpe scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half against Wheaton, including Wooster's last 10 points of the game. He tallied 18 points in the BW game and went for 14 in the season-opening victory at Oberlin.
In addition to Thorpe, the Scots will look to junior guard Xavier Brown. The Van Wie tournament MVP, Brown poured in 31 points against Baldwin Wallace and then added 16 in the championship game. Brown is averaging 17.0 points per game.
The rest of Wooster's starting lineup will most likely include senior guard Scott Purcell (4.0 ppg), senior forward Kenny DeBoer (7.0 ppg) and freshman forward Dan Fanelly (8.7 ppg).
Wooster head coach Steve Moore, in his 27th season with the Scots, will use junior Evan Pannell (5.7 ppg) and sophomores DeVaughn Wingard (9.7 ppg) and Josh Kipfer (6.3 ppg) off the bench.
With five players averaging over 9.0 points per game, Marietta will rely on its depth to upset the Fighting Scots. Leading the way for the Pioneers is senior playmaker
Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius). Hammond is averaging 9.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.
Junior post player
A.J. Davis (Naples, Fla./Palmetto Ridge) is MC's leading scorer averaging 13.8 points per outing to go along with 5.3 rebounds. Davis is also very capable of stepping outside and shooting the three-pointer.
Junior wings
Brennan McKean (Jeromesville, Ohio/Northwestern) (9.8 ppg) and
Andy Dollman (Vienna, W.Va./Parkersburg) (9.5 ppg) and junior post
Garrett Stephenson (West Milton/Milton-Union) (6.0 ppg and 5.8 rpg) will round out the Pioneers' starting lineup.
Off the bench, look for sophomore wing
RaNeal Ewing (Westerville/Dublin Scioto) to wreak havoc on the Fighting Scots. Ewing is averaging 11.5 points per game while playing just 13.0 minutes per night.
Providing depth in the backcourt for Marietta will be sophomore wing
Luis Garcia (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian) (3.5 ppg) and freshman point guard
Keith Richardson (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) (1.8 ppg). In the post sophomore
Eddy Grenert (Wooster, Ohio/Triway) (8.3 ppg) and junior
Andy Stegman (Wheelersburg/Wheelersburg) (5.5 ppg) will see considerable minutes.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
