MARIETTA — Marietta College finished the regular season with an 83-65 win over Baldwin Wallace University Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers improve to 16-9 overall and 10-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Baldwin Wallace finishes its season with a 6-19 record, 3-15 in the OAC.

Marietta honored its five seniors before the game and then started the quintet. Jac Alexander , Torin Lochow, Cooper Parrott, David Sanford, and Sahmi Willoughby all played their final game in Ban Johnson Arena.

“We didn’t play well in the first half, but we came out of the gates in the second half and just really played Marietta basketball,” Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said “I felt pretty good with our energy and demeanor in the second half.”

The day belonged to Willoughby as he just missed posting a double-double in each half of the game. The Pioneers post player had 13 points and 14 rebounds in the first half and then notched nine points and 10 boards in the second. His 24 rebounds broke the Marietta College single game record of 23 rebounds held by Adam Rockhold and Ed Boyce.

“Sahmi is the best rebounder I’ve ever coached and I wondered what the school record was so I looked it up after shoot-around this morning,” VanderWal said. “During pregame I asked Sahmi if he knew what 23 stands for and he had no idea. I said that’s the school record for rebounds; why don’t you go break it today?”

Baldwin Wallace scored the first five points of the game on a jumper from Luke Driscoll and a three-pointer from Myles Reynolds.

The Yellow Jackets led 10-5 two minutes into the game. The Pioneers answered with an 11-0 run. Willoughby scored five points, Sanford hit a 3-pointer and Danny Flood scored three points in the Marietta run.

The Pioneers led by as many as 10 points in the first half. Baldwin Wallace scored the final five points of the period and trailed Marietta by five points, 34-29, at halftime.

3-pointers from De’Ovion Price and Alexander and a monster dunk from Willoughby in the opening minutes of the second half put the Pioneers in complete control. BW got within six points only to see Marietta score nine straight points to end any hopes of a Yellow Jacket comeback.

In addition to Willoughby’s 22 points and 24 rebounds, Ethan Andersen scored 14 points and Sanford chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds. Price added 12 points.

Jarred Logan led the Yellow Jackets with 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Reynolds finished with 13 points, while Driscoll had eight points and 11 rebounds.

Marietta is the No. 5 seed in next week’s OAC Tournament. The Pioneers play at No. 4 seed Otterbein in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. in Westerville.

WOMEN

BEREA, Ohio — The Marietta College women got out to a modest halftime lead and, with the help of a 27-point third quarter, defeated Ohio Athletic Conference leader Baldwin Wallace, 71-56, on Saturday. The road victory closed out the Pioneer regular season on an 11-game winning streak. Marietta improves to 20-5 overall and 15-3 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The 15 OAC victories are the most in the history of the program. Baldwin Wallace falls to 20-5 on the season and 16-2 in conference games.

“That was a really big road win over a great opponent,” Marietta head coach Kole Vivian said. “We had such a good third quarter and that was the difference. We are playing great ball right now heading into the OAC tournament.”

The first quarter was a battle of attrition as neither team could get into an early rhythm. Ally Grake answered an early Yellow Jacket basket to give the Pioneers their first points. She then hit a pair of free throws at the 7:37 mark to give Marietta an early lead. Both teams would go scoreless for the next three minutes, but business would pick up as Madison Cecil hit a 3-pointer and Paige Tolson followed with a layup to put the lead at 8-5. With less than two minutes in the quarter, Olivia Gribble hit from 3-point range and followed with a layup on the next possession to push the lead to six. Sophia Murray scored a layup in the final seconds and the Pioneers led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter;

The second quarter began with a 3-pointer from Grake to give Marietta their biggest lead at that point at nine points. Baldwin Wallace would answer with a trio of baskets, the final coming from an Emily Irwin layup at the 6:07 mark, cutting the Pioneer lead to 22-18. Later in the quarter, Cecil scored a layup and then hit a trey to extend the lead to seven. Bella Valliant brought the Yellow Jackets back with a pair of free throws and layup, cutting the lead to three. In the final minute, Gribble nailed a jumper and Tolson scored a layup and Marietta took a 33-26 lead into intermission.

The Pioneers scored the first points of the second half as Kelly Levering scored on a driving layup, but Irwin scored five straight points to cut into the lead. Marietta answered with a pair of Hannah Schill layups and, after a 3-pointer from Adi Hill, led 42-33. Marietta extended the lead further as Hill hit again from three-point range and Cecil followed with a layup and bonus free throw to put the score at 50-36. In the final minute, Gribble scored another three-pointer and Tolson closed the quarter with a layup and bonus free throw and Marietta took a 60-39 lead going into the final period.

BW outscored Marietta in the final period, 17-11, but could not overcome the difference. The Pioneers got early buckets from Tolson and Levering and never looked back. Marietta cruised through the final period to claim the 71-56 victory.

Gribble led Marietta with 13 points. Tolson finished with 12 points and five rebounds. Cecil scored 10 points. Makenzie Wilson grabbed nine rebounds to lead the team.

Valliant paced the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 17 points. Irwin ended with seven points.

Marietta had already clinched the No. 2 seed, but now knows that they will be facing the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal matchup between Mount Union and Capital. The OAC Semifinal will be at the Ban Johnson Arena this Thursday with a 7 p.m. tip-off.