MARIETTA, Ohio - The No. 2 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team outlasted Capital University Tuesday (Feb. 15) evening posting an 82-74 win to keep its winning streak alive at 19. The victory finished the home portion of the regular season schedule as Marietta improved to 21-2 overall and 16-0 in the OAC.
"It's never easy in this conference. Coach Goodwin does a great job and his kids played their tails off tonight," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "I'm proud of our guts. It wasn't our best game but we made enough plays to gut to out."
Capital (13-10 overall, 8-8 OAC) led 9-4 in the first few minutes of the contest, but Marietta would go on a 7-0 run.
Tim Kreeger's (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) lay in gave the Pioneers their first lead in the game. Capital's David Sanford would help keep the Comets close in the first half nailing a trey at the 8-minute mark, but Marietta would answer quickly as
Jac Alexander (Port Clinton, Ohio/Oak Harbor) drained a three to extend the lead to nine with three minutes remaining. Ryan Roth closed out the half with a three-pointer to put Capital within four, 41-37, going into intermission.
The Comets fought back in the second half and even tied it up at 52 on a Griffen Doseck trey at the 13:11 mark. Joe Thompson's jumper seconds later gave the Comets their first lead since early in the first half. Marietta answered quickly, though, as they would go on an 11-0 run, holding Capital scoreless for over five minutes.
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) came alive in the closing minutes, putting in 10 second half points. His dunk at the 4:50 mark put Marietta up 10 and the Pioneers would not look back.
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding) shot 7-of-16 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line to give him 21 points, leading the Pioneers.
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) chipped in 15 points and Willoughby finished with a double-double, 14 points and 10 rebounds. Alexander finished with 11 points and
Lukas Isaly (Clarington, Ohio/River) added 10.
Sanford led all scorers with 26 points and Doseck finished with 14 points for the Comets.
Marietta completes the regular season this Saturday (Feb. 19) with a trip to Heidelberg University. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
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.
