ALLIANCE, Ohio — Marietta College couldn't pull off another second half comeback as the Pioneers fell to No. 4 ranked Mount Union, 95-80, in the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Championship Saturday (Feb. 25) afternoon.
The Purple Raiders improve to 25-2 and earned the automatic bid into next week's NCAA Tournament. Marietta ends the season with a 17-11 overall record.
"Give Mount Union credit, they came out of the gates on fire and never let us back into the game," Marietta head coach
Jon VanderWal said. "I'm proud of our effort today. We never gave up and battled until the final buzzer."
Mount Union scored the first nine points of the game on three-pointers from Darrell Newsome, Christian Parker and Jeffrey Mansfield. The Purple Raiders made the first six shots they took in the game and raced out to a 23-3 lead seven minutes into the game.
Marietta cut the lead to 15 points twice. Once on a free throw from
Cooper Parrott (Willard, Ohio/Willard) at the 8:26 mark and then again on a three-pointer from
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye) with 1:44 left in the first half. Mount Union led by 19 points, 49-30, at halftime.
The Purple Raiders opened the second half with a three-pointer from Collen Gurley. Mount Union connected on 11 shots from behind the arc.
The lead hovered around 20 points for the entire second half as the Purple Raiders answered every Pioneer basket. A pair of free throws from Parrott capped an 8-0 Marietta drive cutting the deficit to 14 points, 81-67, with five minutes left in the game.
Once again, Mount Union answered scoring the next six points and pushing the lead back to 20 points.
Parrott led Marietta with 21 points and seven rebounds earning All-Tournament Team honors.
Lovenson Xavier (Naples, Fla./Community School of Naples) was also named all-tournament after scoring 17 points.
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye) chipped in with 12 points, while
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) finished with 10 points.
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg) grabbed 10 rebounds.
Parker, the Tournament MVP, recorded a double-double with 31 points and 12 boards. Mansfield was named all-tournament after scoring 19 points and pulling down seven rebounds. Newsome scored 19 points, while Corey Hudson added 12 points.
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 Twitter and Instagram.
