MARIETTA, Ohio — After a dramatic corner three-pointer from
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) to force overtime, the Marietta College men's basketball team faded in the overtime period and a lost a crucial Ohio Athletic Conference game, 112-99, Saturday (Feb. 8) afternoon. The loss drops Marietta to 10-11 on the season and 4-10 in the OAC. Heidelberg improves to 14-7 on the season and 10-4 in the OAC.
Frank Waganfeald (Oregon, Ohio/Clay) scored four points in the opening three minutes to give the Pioneers an early 6-2 lead. He then hit a jumper off of a
Jack Main (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) assist and, after
Darius Carden (Ooltewah, Tenn./McMinn Central) followed with the trey, the Pioneers enjoyed a nine-point cushion at the 14:23 mark. After a Student Prince timeout, Heidelberg changed their tactics and began to aggressively drive the lane. Elijah Harden scored on a layup and was fouled. After he converted his bonus free throw, Markell Johnson-Nichols did the same thing on their next possession and got the same result, helping Heidelberg erase an eight-point Pioneer lead.
De'Ovion Price (River Rouge, Mich./River Rouge) got Marietta rolling again as he hit a pull up jumper to stop the Student Prince run and later buried a three to put the Pioneer lead back to five. Heidelberg fought back to tie it again, getting threes from Johnson-Nichols and Drew Panning, but the Pioneers answered with a 6-0 run, fueled by four points from
Danny Flood (Valley City, Ohio/Buckeye), to retake the lead. After Heidelberg used the free throw line to help them tie again, Flood responded with a three-pointer to put Marietta back into the lead. Carden scored in the final minute to push the lead further, but Mason Weisnewski put in the final bucket in the final seconds to cut Marietta's lead to 42-39 going into the intermission.
Harden came up big early in the second half, scoring a pair of buckets to help tie the game back up at 48. Later, Zane Leitwein hit from three-point range to give Heidelberg their first lead in the game, 51-50. Over the next eight minutes, both teams exchanged the lead 11 times in a back and forth struggle. Down three at the 6:59 mark, Carden hit yet again from behind the arc to tie the contest at 80 and then followed with a jumper to put Marietta back in the lead.
Heidelberg would again fightback to tie and, with the less than two minutes left in regulation, Eric Panning's dunk put the Student Princes back in the lead. After a Pioneer miss, Heidelberg converted on the other side as Johnson-Nichols scored on a driving layup to put them up by four with 13 seconds left. The Pioneers got a quick three-pointer from
Jayden Bradshaw (Blanchester, Ohio/Fayetteville-Perry) and quickly fouled to stop the clock. Heidelberg converted both free throws, but the lead was in striking distance with :10 second remaining. The Pioneers quickly sprinted up the court and Bradshaw pulled up for three pointer. His shot would carom off the rim and land in Carden's hands. Carden then quickly threw up a shot from the corner that would set the Winter Weekend crowd on fire, tying the game at 94 and forcing overtime.
Although Marietta took an early lead in the overtime period, Heidelberg would finish on a 16-0 run. During that stretch, Marietta was forced to take desperate shots and had to foul to stop the clock, but could not slow down the Student Princes.
The free throw difference was crucial as Heidelberg went a staggering 28-for-30 from the line as opposed to Marietta only scoring 5-of-6 from the line.
Carden went 5-of-8 from three point range and finished with a team-high 23 points, also leading the Pioneers with eight rebounds and two steals. Four other Pioneers were in double figures. Waganfeald scored 19 points. Price finished with 15 points. Bradshaw and Flood both finished with 12 points.
Johnson-Nichols led all scorers with 26 points, going an unsightly 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Harden followed with 23 points.
Marietta will return home Wednesday (Feb. 12) for a 7:00 p.m. game with Capital University.
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.
