MARIETTA, Ohio — The No. 2 ranked Marietta College men's basketball team opens play in the NCAA Division III Tournament against Medaille College at 7:15 p.m. Friday (March 4) in Ban Johnson Arena.
This is the seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and tenth overall, for the Pioneers. Marietta is currently 25-2 overall and on a 23-game winning streak. The Pioneers won the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships and the OAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Medaille won the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament earning the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Mavericks have won seven of their last eight games and stand 15-12 overall. Medaille is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.
Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal is in his 15th season as the Pioneer head coach. He has led the Pioneers to a 292-114 overall record and nine of the school's ten NCAA Tournament appearances.
The Pioneers feature four All-Ohio Athletic Conference players and a wealth of experience. Marietta is led by senior wing
Jason Ellis (Marion, Ohio/Marion Harding), who averages 17.3 points per game. Ellis was named the OAC Player of the Year for the second straight season and is a four-time All-OAC honoree, including three times as a first teamer.
Ellis leads Marietta in several statistical categories including three-pointers (67), free throw percentage (93.9%), assists (94) and steals (46).
Senior point guard
Lukas Isaly (Clarington, Ohio/River) is second on the team averaging 14.6 points per night. Isaly made his third appearance on the All-OAC team earning first team accolade this year after being named honorable mention the past two seasons. He ranks second on the team in three-pointers (61), three-point percentage (42.1%) and assists (78).
Senior post player
Tim Kreeger (Delphos, Ohio/Delphos St. Johns) was named honorable mention all-conference this season. He is a three-time honoree after earning second team two years ago and honorable mention the last two years. Kreeger is third on the team averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per night.
Senior wing
Mason Lydic (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio/Woodridge) averages 11.2 points per game and leads Marietta in three-point shooting converting 45.1% of his shots from behind the arc. Mason was named honorable mention All-OAC this year after earning second team honors last spring.
Keith Hack is in his second season as the head coach at Medaille. He brings a 26-26 overall record into the NCAA Tournament.
The Mavericks are led by AMCC Co-Player of the Year Rodney Graves. Graves averages 18.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per night. The first team All-AMCC guard/forward has dished out 44 assists and recorded 37 steals in his senior season.
Senior guard Kendall McGill was named to the All-AMCC second team after averaging 14.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He has notched 52 assists and 34 steals. Freshman guard Jaqwan Washington and junior forward Jorarei Bile are averaging 9.0 ppg and 8.4 ppg, respectively.
The winner between Marietta and Medaille will face the winner of the game between Rochester and Eastern on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. in the second round.
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.
