MARIETTA, Ohio – No. 4 seeded Marietta College defeated Otterbein University in overtime by the score of 92-83 in the quarterfinal round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Tuesday (Feb. 21) evening in Ban Johnson Arena. During this wild ride of a game, both teams held large leads at one point in the matchup only to lose them.
The Pioneers improve 16-10 on the season, while the No. 5 seed Cardinals finish their season at 14-12.
The Pioneers advance into the semifinals and will travel to battle No. 2 seed John Carroll on Thursday (Feb. 23). Tip-off against the Blue Streaks, who received a first-round bye, is set for 7 p.m.
"College basketball is a game of runs," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "We had a nice lead, but we turned it over on three straight possessions. They scored on all three and gained momentum. But Lovenson hit some huge free throws at the end and Jac (Alexander) made enormous plays all night long. Very proud of him and our team for gutting this one out."
Both teams got off to sluggish starts but
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) put the first points on the board nailing a three pointer from the right wing.
David Sanford (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) came off the bench and nailed a jumper to give the Pioneers a one-point lead at the 15:38 mark of the first half, but Julian Heckman answered with a three-pointer and Otterbein led 12-10. On the next Otterbein possession, Dallas Patrick hit a three-pointer and was fouled on the play. His ensuing free throw put the lead at 16-10 with less than 14 minutes remaining in the half.
After the Cardinals pushed the lead out to 23-14 on a driving layup by Brennen Rains, the Pioneers finally settled down and began to hit some shots.
Ethan Andersen's (Boardman, Ohio/Boardman) hook shot and
Lovenson Xavier's (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) floater cut the lead to five.
Jac Alexander (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) hit from beyond the arc, getting fouled in the process. His four-point play tied the score at 24 with eight minutes left in the half. Alexander, Xavier, and Sanford hit three pointers on the next three possessions and the Pioneers pushed the lead to seven. Otterbein had plenty of fight left, though, and cut the lead to three on a Cam Evan's layup. Alexander completed the hot half hitting a left corner three-pointer in the final seconds and Marietta led 40-34 at the half.
The Pioneers widened their lead as the second half began, going on a 12-2 run fueled by five points from Xavier. With the Marietta lead at 14 with 13:05 left in regulation, Otterbein began their comeback going on an 8-2 run, four points coming from Dallas Patrick. Julian Heckman hit a three pointer to cut the lead to six at the 9:14 mark. Otterbein kept fighting and after Heckman converted a layup and Patrick scored on a jumper, the lead was cut to one point with 4:30 remaining. Alexander kept Marietta above water with consecutive threes but Otterbein stayed close. Troy Scowden's jumper from the paint gave Otterbein their first lead since the first half, 75-74, with a minute left. The Pioneers had one final opportunity in regulation as Xavier was sent to the line after getting fouled. He calmly sank both free throws and sent the contest into overtime.
After the Cardinals open the scoring in the overtime period, the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run with all points coming from Parrott. He hit four clutch free throws and scored a couple of heavily contested buckets to extend the lead to six. Forced to foul to stop the clock, Otterbein sent Marietta to the line 14 times in the overtime period and Marietta made 12 of them. Marietta closed out the game with the overtime win, 92-83.
Marietta was led by Alexander. He had 26 points, on 6-of-11 shooting from behind the arc and dished out six assists. Parrott fought off foul trouble and contributed 19 points, hitting some crucial free throws in the overtime period. Xavier finished with 15 points, none bigger than the two free throws that put the game into overtime. Willoughby put in another gutsy performance leading the team with seven rebounds.
Patrick led the Cardinals with 24 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the overtime period. Evans was right behind with 23 points, going 9-of12 from the free throw line.
"We've been talking about just getting this one, getting those tournament jitters out of the way," concluded Coach VanderWal. "We got the first one now we'll see what happens from there."
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.
