UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — Marietta College erased an 18-point halftime deficit to upset top-seeded and No. 8 ranked John Carroll University by the score of 79-75 Thursday (Feb. 23) evening in the semifinal round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
The Pioneers improve to 17-10 on the season and will play at No. 4 ranked and second seed Mount Union for the championship on Saturday (Feb. 25) at 3:00 p.m. John Carroll falls to 22-4 on the season and will now have to hope for at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm so proud of our guys. The second half was one of the best halves of basketball we've ever played," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "To win at JCU, in that environment, with the season on the line, shows the heart this team has!"
The loss avenges a pair of regular season losses to the Blue Streaks. The Pioneers will now look to do the same against Mount Union.
John Carroll went on a 14-2 run in the first half expanding a four-point lead to 16 points, 31-15, with 4:52 left in the first half. Two buckets each from David Gentry and Henry Raynor and a pair of three-pointers from Chase Toppin highlighted the Blue Streak run.
JCU got a layup from Jerry Higgins with just a few seconds left in the half to take an 18-point lead, 39-21, into halftime.
Five minutes into the second half the margin still stood at 18 points, 49-31.
A Three-pointer from
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye) sparked the Pioneers. Xavier Lovenson converted a pair of free throws and drained a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 13 points.
John Carroll regrouped and managed to push its lead back to 12 points, 61-49, with just over nine minutes remaining on the clock.
Two quick triples from Xavier made it a six-point game, 61-55. Following a Blue Streak three-pointer, Flood answered with another triple and
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) got an offensive rebound and layup cutting the JCU lead to four points, 64-60, with 6:26 left in the game.
A dunk from former Pioneer Will Yontek pushed the margin back to seven points, 69-62 with five minutes remaining.
Marietta scored the next nine points to retake the lead for the first time since early in the first half. Flood hit a pair of free throws, Cooper Parrot nailed a three-pointer, and layups from Xavier and Willoughby made it 71-69 in favor of the Pioneers with 2:40 left on the clock.
Another Toppin three-pointer tie the game, 75-75, with 45 seconds left. Parrott drew a foul and went to the line and sank two free throws giving Marietta the lead with 23 seconds left. Following a Blue Streak miss, Willoughby grabbed the rebound and was immediately fouled. Willoughby converted both free throws for the 79-75 win.
Xavier hit four three-pointers and led all scorers with 24 points. He also tied for the team lead with nine rebounds. Parrott finished with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Willoughby had 12 points and nine boards. Flood chipped in with 12 points.
Luke Frazier led the Blue Streaks with 18 points. Toppin and Higgins scored 14 points apiece, while Yontek finished with 13 points.
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.
