Marietta College opens OAC tourney with OT win
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MARIETTA -- The OAC quarterfinal contest between fifth-seeded Otterbein and fourth-seeded Marietta College summarized the Pioneers' regular season.
With one exception. Marietta College got closure.
Tuesday night at Ban Johnson Arena, the Pioneers appeared headed for a meltdown. They led by 16 points early in the second half, but the Cardinals eventually forced overtime tied at 76. In the extra five-minute session, Cooper Parrott scored the Pioneers' first eight points and as a team they hit 12-of-14 free throws while pulling away for a 92-83 victory.
"This hasn't been as great of a season as we would like or had in the past-- that's tough and there is a sense of pressure that comes with that," said MC point guard Jac Alexander, who scored a game-high 26 points. "For us to come through, we had guys that were extremely tough down the stretch like we have been all year.
"It just takes one win to get you going in the tournament and that was what we were focused on."
MC's reward is a semifinal date at No. 1 seed John Carroll at 7 p.m. Thursday. The PIoneers improve to 16-10, while Otterbein ends the campaign at 14-12 after losing to the Pioneers for the 20th consecutive meeting.
"John Carroll is really good and we have a lot of work to do in the next 24 hours to prepare for one of the best teams in the country, and one of the toughest places in the country to play," MC coach Jon VanderWal said. "We are going into the lion's den. This win gives us some confidence going into that game."
Parrott was the ideal bookend for MC after scoring the team's first eight points of the game. The junior finished with 19 points, but was utilized only in multiple spurts after picking up two personal fouls in the first six-plus minutes of the first half.
Otterbein came out firing at the outset -- using three successive 3-pointers by three different players while building its largest lead at 21-12. The Cardinals knocked down a total of four treys in the game's first eight minutes then did not hit another in what essentially covered a full half of college basketball.
Trailing 23-14, MC clamped down defensively and finally got it s outside game going. Alexander's 3-pointer from the corner just as time expired in the first half resulted in the Pioneers outscoring the Cardinals 26-11 and taking a 40-34 into the break.
The momentum for MC carried into the early stages of the second half. Lovenson Xavier scored off an assist from Sahmi Willoughby then converted an assist from Alexander for a 3-pointer as part of a 15-2 run which extended the lead to 52-36.
"We know Otterbein is a really good team and we know in college basketball a 16-point lead can diminish just like that," Alexander said.
Dallas Patrick stepped forward for Otterbein and accounted for all of 12 of the Cardinals points to open the second half. His teammates followed suit. MC, which committed just one turnover in the first 20 minutes, did a 180 and were less careful in the second half -- committing a total of seven turnovers over the next 20 minutes.
Otterbein eventually tied MC at 71 on Patrick's putback thanks to a magnificent rebound save from teammate Troy Scowden with just less than three minutes remaining in regulation.
Alexander came up with several crucial 3-pointers in the final minutes to help MC maintain a slim margin, but the Cardinals finally took the lead at 75-74 on a Scowden bucket at 1:08 showing.
Cam Evans made one of two free throws as part of his 23 points to extend the gap at 76-74 at 24 seconds. On the next series, Xavier drove the lane and was fouled on a blocking call. Xavier, who finished with 15 points. made both ends of the two-shot foul at 9.7 seconds.
With the final seconds ticking away, Evans found a seam down the lane but his layup as time expired missed the mark.
In overtime, Evans gave Otterbein its last lead at 78-76 as MC responded with an 8-0 run. The Cardinals never recovered and watched as the Pioneers continued to convert at the line and increase the lead to 89-80 with less than a minute showing.
Otterbein made just 2-of-10 field goal attempts in overtime, including an 0-fer (0-for-5) from beyond the arc.
"When it came down to it, we made free throws down the stretch and made some big stops," Alexander said. "The season is on the line, so you just have to let it all hang out, and that's what coach has been telling us all week -- just play with your hair on fire and let it loose because if you don't come out on top the season is over."
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com