MARIETTA, Ohio – The Otterbein men’s basketball team fell short on the road against Marietta Wednesday night inside Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers jumped ahead early, but the Cardinals battled back to only trail by seven going into halftime. The Cards then managed to get within four in the second half before losing, ground and facing a 74-54 loss.
The Pioneers went on multiple runs throughout the night, leaving few opportunities for the Cardinals to pull ahead with an answer each time. As a result, Otterbein now stands 11-7 on the year and 5-6 within conference play.
WHAT WENT DOWN:
- A 13-point run at the start of the game placed the Pioneers ahead 16-4 within the first seven minutes. Otterbein eventually settled in and trailed 21-11.
- Marietta found its largest lead of the first half with just over three minutes remaining, thanks to a seven-point run at the hands of multiple Pioneers. However, Cam Evans started a nine-point run for the Cardinals which led to just a 36-29 margin into halftime.
- A three-pointer from Julian Heckman, and five additional points from Evans, produced a nice run to start the second half. This sequence cut Marietta’s lead to a mere four points with roughly 12 minutes to go.
- Unfortunately, Marietta took off again and expanded the final margin for the remainder of the contest with major scoring from Lovenson Xavier (23 pts) and Cooper Parrott (15 pts).
KEY STATS:
- Marietta threw up 24 points off the bench while Otterbein produced just half that from non-starters with 12.
- A drastic gap awarded in the free-throw section proved vital. Otterbein only went 3 of 8 from the line while the Pioneers capitalized on free points, going 21 of 29.
- Evans (16) and Heckman (14) represented more than half of Otterbein’s points, as no other Cardinal scored more than five.
- Marietta finished with a 51-36 edge in rebounding, including 19 boards on the offensive end.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Otterbein will return home for its next three contests, hosting a variety of OAC teams. This coming Saturday men’s hoops is scheduled to take on Muskingum for their second battle of the season with tip-off set for 2 p.m.
BOX SCORE
COURTESY OTTERBEIN ATHLETICS
