MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men's basketball team begins play in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday (Feb. 20) at Otterbein University. The Pioneers (16-9 overall, 10-8 OAC) are the No. 5 seed, while Otterbein (17-8 overall, 11-7 OAC) is the No. 4 seed.
John Carroll won the regular season championships and is the top seed and will host the winner of Marietta and Otterbein in the semifinals on Thursday (Feb. 22). Mount Union is the No. 2 seed and plays the winner of No. 3 Heidelberg and No. 6 Capital in the semifinals.
The Pioneers finished the regular season with an 87-72 win over No. 22 ranked Mount Union and an 83-65 victory over Baldwin Wallace. Otterbein knocked off No. 3 ranked John Carroll by the score of 78-74 and then lost at No. 22 Mount Union, 94-81, in the season finale.
Otterbein snapped a 20-game losing streak to the Pioneers this season as the Cardinals swept the season series. Otterbein won in Westerville, 86-70, and the posted a 90-88 double overtime win in Marietta.
Marietta is led by the current OAC Player of the Week,
Sahmi Willoughby (Groveport, Ohio/Reynoldsburg). Willoughby leads the Pioneers in scoring and rebounding averaging 12.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game. He broke the Marietta single game record with 24 rebounds in the Pioneers' win over Baldwin Wallace. Willoughby's 26 blocked shots is also tops on the team.
Senior
David Sanford (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield) has started 17 games and is second on the team averaging 11.3 points per outing. He leads Marietta with 49 three-pointers and 39 steals. Senior point guard
Jac Alexander (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor) enters the postseason averaging 10.4 points. He is MC's leading free throw shooter converting 79.2% of his free throws and is also tops on the team with 73 assists.
Otterbein has three players averaging in double figures. Graduate student Jack Clement paces the Cardinals with 17.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. He has dished out 75 assists and shoots over 40% from three-point range. Senior Cam Evans is close behind with 15.0 points and 5.2 rebounds per night. Sophomore Julian Heckman averages 11.2 points and 3.6 rebounds. He leads the Cardinals with 88 assists and 40 three-pointers.
Tip off in Westerville is set for 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening. Fans can purchase tickets
HERE.
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.
