MARIETTA, Ohio – No. 21 ranked Marietta College held off Wilmington College for an 83-78 win Tuesday (Feb. 25) evening in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's basketball Tournament.
With the win, Marietta improves to 21-5 on the season and will host John Carroll in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Blue Streaks were 84-54 winners over Capital in the first round. Wilmington finishes its season with a 10-16 overall record.
"That was a battle and we knew it would be," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "We won the rebounding battle by 18 and that should be a blow-out victory, but our 21 turnovers pretty much negated that and allowed Wilmington to stick around."
The game was tight early on and Marietta led 11-9 at the 15:35 minute mark of the half. The Pioneers went on a quick 5-0 run with a tip in layup from
Caleb Hoyng (Celina, Ohio/Celina) and a transition three from
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) to hold a 16-9 edge forcing a Wilmington timeout a minute later.
Out of the break, the Quakers scored six straight cutting the lead to 16-15. The run was halted by a layup from
Kyle Matoszkia (Johnstown, Ohio/Johnstown), with just under 12 minutes to play in the half.
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) was able to help put Marietta on top 32-26 with 4:57 minutes to play in the half. Lydic scored eight points for the Pioneers in a two-minute span.
Wilmington was able to stay close over the final five minutes of the first half.
Jake Montgomery (Westerville, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) put Marietta on top 44-38 at the intermission with a last second three-pointer.
The Quakers battled to open the second half and trimmed the Pioneer lead to 48-46 at the 17:27 minute mark of the period. Marietta answered with six quick points behind a three from Hoyng and an old fashioned three-point play by
Christian James (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro).
Wilmington once again cut the Marietta lead to 54-53 behind a 7-0 run. The spurt forced a Pioneer timeout with just over 14 minutes to play in the game.
Out of the timeout, the teams swapped baskets and Marietta maintained a 64-58 edge with nine minutes to play in the game. The Quakers fought all the way back and tied the game at 66 points apiece on a bucket in the paint from Abdul Kanu, with just under seven minutes to play in the game.
Wilmington would not go away and trailed 78-76 with just over a minute to play in the game. The Pioneers put the game away at the foul line behind three foul shots from Ellis. Marietta won 81-76.
The Pioneers were led by Ellis as he had 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting from behind the arc and pulled down six rebounds.
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) pitched in with 15 points and tied for a game high in rebounds with nine. Lydic provided a spark off the bench with 13 points.
Jeffrey Mansfield led Wilmington with 28 points. Kanu added 17 points and seven rebounds, while Matt Smith chipped in with 15 points.
Fans can follow all of 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.
