ADA, Ohio — Ohio Northern University led wire to wire as the Polar Bears defeated Marietta College by the score of 85-74 Saturday (Feb. 15) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference men's basketball action. The Pioneers slip to 10-13overall and 4-12 in the OAC. Ohio Northern improves to 12-11 on the season and 6-10 in the OAC.
The Polar Bears hit three quick three-pointers and jumped out to an early 11-0 lead forcing Marietta to play from behind the entire afternoon. Ohio Northern would go on to sink 10 three-pointers in the first half and took a 47-38 lead into halftime.
ONU started the second half much the same as the first, scoring the first 10 points of the period and extending the lead to 19 points, 57-38. Marietta battled back and trimmed the deficit to eight points, 72-64, with a 7-0 run.
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) led the Pioneer run with five of MC's seven points.
Ohio Northern stopped the Marietta comeback bid with back-to-back buckets pushing the margin back into double digits where it stayed for the remainder of the game. Despite not scoring in the final 1:50 of the game, ONU managed to hold off Marietta and secured the 85-74 victory,
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) led the Pioneers with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Jake Singleton (Senecaville, Ohio/Meadowbrook) hit five three-pointers and finished with 21 points. Price and
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) each chipped in with 12 points.
Will Miller had four three-pointers and finished with a team-high 18 points for Ohio Northern. Carter Reese sank five shots from behind the arc and had 17 points. Blake Michael and Jadi Cunningham finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Marietta plays at rival Muskingum University on Wednesday (Feb. 19) at 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.
