SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — For the first time in four years the Marietta College men's basketball team is not at home for the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg University is the host school for the four-team pod.
The Pioneers open play in the Big Dance against No. 24 Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Friday (Mar. 2) at 5:30 p.m. Wittenberg, ranked third nationally, plays unranked Misericordia at 7:30 p.m. in the other first round game. The two winners will meet at 7 p.m. on Saturday in the second round.
Marietta (21-6 overall) is making its seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, including six trips in the last eight seasons. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (20-7 overall) is making its third consecutive and eighth overall trip to the NCAA postseason.
The Pioneers earned one of 21 at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament after being knocked out of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament in the semifinals. Marietta tied with John Carroll for the OAC regular season crown but was seeded second in the conference tournament. UW-Oshkish earned its at-large bid after finishing third in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and advancing to the semifinal round of the WIAC Tournament.
Marietta is under the direction of 11th-year head coach
Jon VanderWal. VanDerWal is 211-96 at Marietta and needs two victories to tie Phil Roach as the all-time leader in wins at MC. The Pioneers have reached the 20-win plateau in each of the last four seasons, a first in program-history.
VanderWal's probable starting lineup will include senior point guard
Dillon Young (Laurelville, Ohio/Logan Elm) and juniors
Mel Shuler (Columbus, Ohio/Tree of Life Christian),
Kyle Dixon (Poland, Ohio/Poland Seminary),
Mike Hall (Belpre, Ohio/Warren) and
Avery Williams (Nashport, Ohio/Tri-Valley).
Young is Marietta's leading scorer averaging 14.4 points per game. He also leads the Pioneers with 100 assists, 55 three-pointers and a 45.8% shooting percentage behind the arc. Dixon is averaging 13.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per outing. He ranks fifth in the OAC in shooting percentage at 52.0% from the floor. Williams averages 11.6 points and leads MC with 7.7 rebounds per night.
Shuler and Hall entered the starting lineup when injuries sidelined
Anthony Wallace (Wheeling, W.Va./The Linsly School) and
DeVaughn Wingard (Warrensville Heights, Ohio/Orange) during the regular season. Shuler averages 4.7 points, while Hall averages 3.7 points per game.
Wallace and Wingard are healthy and have been coming off the bench recently. Wallace averages 13.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Wingard averages 10.3 points and 3.6 boards per night. He leads Marietta with 31 steals and 24 blocked shots.
UW-Oshkosh is led by sixth-year head coach Pat Juckem. Juckem is 90-72 with the Titans and 194-152 in his career which includes seven seasons as the head coach at Coe College.
The Titans starting lineup includes senior guard Charlie Noone, junior guards Ben Boots and Brett Wittchow, sophomore forward Adam Fravert and sophomore center Jack Flynn.
Boots averages 15.2 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. He leads the WIAC with 119 assists and ranks fifth in scoring. Flynn averages 13.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per night. He leads the WIAC in field goal shooting (63.8%), is third in rebounding and ninth in scoring.
Fravert averages 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds. He leads the WIAC with 33 blocked shots and ranks second in rebounding. Wittchow averages 10.5 points and 3.8 boards. He leads the conference in three-point shooting with a 48.2% percentage. Noone averages 9.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per night.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
