TIFFIN, Ohio — The Marietta College men's basketball team shot 18-percent from the field in the first half and could not make up the difference, dropping their Ohio Athletic Conference opener at Heidelberg University by the score of 84-65 Saturday (Dec. 2) afternoon. The Pioneers slip to 4-2 overall and 0-1 in the OAC. Heidelberg improves to 4-2 on the season and 1-0 in the OAC.
"Every game in this conference is a battle, especially on the road," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "We didn't play our best today, but give Heidelberg credit. They played well and beat us on both ends of the floor. We will go back to work and get ready for a good Capital team on Wednesday."
Heidelberg scored first, almost two minutes into the contest, with a three-pointer from Tre Watkins. Marietta answered with a three-pointer from
Lovenson Xavier (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) to tie the game but would not score for another eight minutes. Heidelberg went on a 9-0 run as the Pioneers would miss their next 10 shots from the field.
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) scored from the paint to cut the lead to 14-6, but the Student Princes answered with two consecutive jumpers from Isaiah Young pushing their lead to 19-6.
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) came off the bench to provide the Pioneers with a little spark. His layup with three minutes left in the half cut the lead to 12. He then hit from three-point range with 1:29 left on the clock to get Marietta within six points of the lead. Watkins poured in the final four Heidelberg points of the half and Marietta trailed 36-24 going into the intermission.
Even with improved shooting in the second half, Marietta had trouble cutting into the Heidelberg lead. Xavier got the Pioneers on the board first in the second half with a jumper, but Zane Leitwein answered with a triple to push the Heidelberg lead to 15. Marietta would go on an 8-0 run, getting layups from
Jac Alexander (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) and Waganfeald and a step back jumper from Parrott, to cut the lead to 46-40. Heidelberg got another three-pointer from Young only to be answered by a three from Alexander, keeping the deficit at six with 11:17 remaining.
Heidelberg went on a devastating 9-0 run over the next three minutes, getting buckets from Young and Eric Panning, to extend the lead back out to 15 points. The Pioneers got no closer, even as Parrott, Waganfeald, and Alexander scored with layups. With a minute remaining, Heidelberg pulled their starters and would go on to defeat Marietta 84-65.
Parrott led the Pioneers with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Waganfeald recorded a double-double, scoring 13 points and collected 10 rebounds. Alexander chipped in with 11 points and dished out a pair of assists.
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) grabbed eight boards to go along with his five points.
Watkins led all scorers with 26 points for the Student Princes. Young scored 19 points and led with six assists. Panning scored 14 points and led Heidelberg with 10 rebounds.
Marietta returns home to host Capital University on Wednesday (Dec. 6). Tip-off in Ban Johnson Arena is set for 7:00 p.m.
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 X and Instagram.
