ADA, Ohio — No. 6 Marietta College won its twelfth straight game with an 80-64 win at Ohio Northern University Saturday (Jan. 22) afternoon. The Pioneers swept the season series from ONU and improve to 14-2 overall and 9-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Polar Bears fall to 7-8 overall and 1-7 in the OAC.
"Great win. Short-handed, late bus, long trip, tough gym to play in, and our guys handled everything extremely well," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "Our leadership was amazing today, and we got a needed road win."
Both teams got off to a sluggish start as the team traded baskets in the first eight minutes of the game. Grant Heilman hit a jumper in the paint to tie the game at 10-10 with 12:16 left in the first half.
Marietta responded with the next six points as
Ryan Reidy (Cincinnati, Ohio/Archbishop McNicholas),
Jac Alexander (Port Clinton, Ohio/Oak Harbor) and
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) each tallied a bucket to give the Pioneers a 16-10 lead.
Following a pair of Polar Bear free throws, the Pioneers erupted for 10 points in a two-minute stretch extending the lead to 14 points, 26-12, and forcing an ONU timeout.
Lukas Isaly (Clarington, Ohio/River) triggered the run with a three-pointer and
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) hit a pair of jumpers in the rally.
A three-pointer from Alexander at the 2:39 mark pushed the Pioneer lead to 16 points, 35-19. Marietta took a 38-25 advantage into halftime.
Ohio Northern trailed by double digits the entire second half. Marietta's biggest lead was 17 points.
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) led the Pioneers with 23 points and five assists. Isaly nailed four three-pointers and finished with 18 points.
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) added 14 points and six rebounds.
Adam Scott tallied 23 points and eight rebounds for the Polar Bears. CJ Napier and Brandon Waugh chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Marietta takes a two-game lead on Heidelberg and Mount Union in the OAC standings. The Pioneers travel to Westerville on Wednesday (Jan. 26) for a 7 p.m. game at Otterbein University.
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 and Instagram.
