The 2022 Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament
Opening Round Preview and a Look Ahead to Tuesday’s Quarterfinals
February 20, 2022 by C. Jay Prescher
The 2022 OAC Men’s Basketball Tournament tips-off Monday night with two games. At stake is the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship that begins in March. Marietta College finished the 2021-2022 OAC regular season unbeaten at 17-0. They are the OAC tournament’s #1 seed. The Pioneers are also the first undefeated team in conference since the 16-0 Otterbein Cardinals in 1985-1986.
Marietta College’s 17 victories in the conference, without a loss, tied the Wooster Fighting Scots’ 1938-1939 OAC record for the best unbeaten season in league history. As long as the nationally 2nd ranked Pioneers win in the tournament, they will host. Marietta College will open the tournament on Tuesday night at Ban Johnson Arena. The winner of the Muskingum/Ohio Northern game on Monday will head down to Marietta to play the Pioneers.
On the other side of the bracket, Mount Union held on to win a thriller at Otterbein on Saturday. That means, the Purple Raiders finished the regular season at 14-3 in the OAC and 21-3 overall and are the #2 tournament seed. Mount Union is currently ranked 10th in the D3Hoops.com national top-25 poll. The Purple Raiders will play the winner of Monday’s other opening round game. Wilmington hosts John Carroll, with the winner traveling to The MAAC to play Mount Union on Tuesday.
The #3 through #6 seeds in this year’s OAC tournament already know who they’ll be playing on “Quarterfinal Tuesday”. After being overwhelmed in the second-half by the Pioneers on Saturday, Heidelberg will play a tough Capital team at Seiberling Gymnasium. The other Tuesday quarterfinal will have the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets, traveling to Otterbein to play the Cardinals on Reynolds Court. Let’s break down both Monday match-ups and take a sneak peek at the quarterfinal round.
Monday’s Opening Round
Monday’s two opening round 2021-2022 OAC tournament games are a case of déjà vu. The four teams vying for the right to move on to the quarterfinals played two days ago.
If momentum makes much of a difference, Wilmington and Muskingum have a slight edge. However, the OAC is an extremely balanced conference.
There’s just no easy out in the OAC, no matter where the games are played. Let’s look at the two opening match-ups for Monday.
• Muskingum University at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio
As we said, the opening round games of the 2021-2022 OAC tournament on Monday are déjà vu. Both match-ups are back-to-back repeats of the two final regular season games for each school. Last Saturday, Wilmington went up to John Carroll and knocked off the Blue Streaks. Muskingum University traveled to Ohio Northern and beat the Polar Bears on their home court. These four teams all play each other again on Monday. For two, the 2021-2022 basketball season will end.
In the Muskingum/Ohio Northern game on Saturday in Ada, Ohio, the Fighting Muskies were pretty much a one-man army. After jumping out to a 13-point halftime lead, 44-31, Muskingum held off ONU for a 76-69 win. Senior Alex Masinelli torched the Polar Bears for 39 points on Saturday, including nailing 8 out of 11 shots in the second-half.
Masinelli scored 20 of Muskingum’s 38 second-half points to almost single-handedly stave off a ferocious ONU rally. The senior guard made an incredible 17 out of 24 shots for the game. Ironically, his game-high total only included one made basket from beyond the arc. Senior Brandon Waugh tried to carry the Polar Bears on his back in the second-half, burying 18 points himself. Waugh’s second-half scoring barrage included three clutch 3-pointers.
With one-minute left on the clock, the 6’1” ONU senior’s final three-pointer of the game brought the Polar Bears to within a point, at 69-68. Masinelli answered with another clutch layup. The Muskies sealed the win by holding Northern to a single point over the last 60 seconds.
ONU has now lost 11 out of their last 13 games. Albeit, like the Muskingum loss last Saturday, a few have been agonizingly close defeats. At various points during the last two months, ONU has also played games with a depleted lineup.
Northern started the new year losing at Otterbein 57-53. ONU crawled back to within a basket with 28 seconds left, but the Cardinals held on. The Polar Bears lost to Heidelberg two weeks later by three points.
That was another disappointing loss, especially after fighting back to tie the game at 67-67. With four minutes to go, junior Landen Long hit the game-tying layup. But the Student Princes held ONU to one basket and a pair of free throws over the final four minutes of play to secure a 74-71 victory.
Two weeks later, on Groundhog’s Day, ONU led Otterbein 53-47, at the 10:00 mark in the second half, only to fall to the Cardinals again, 71-67. Three days after that, the Polar Bears lost to Capital 53-52, on a three-point buzzer beater by the Comets’ 6’0″ sophomore David Sanford.
Ahead of Saturday’s regular season-ending win, Muskingum wasn’t having much better luck themselves. The Fighting Muskies had dropped six in a row before righting the ship. Saturday’s win also gave Muskingum a season-sweep over Ohio Northern. Back in January, the Muskies gave a shorthanded Polar Bears’ team a drubbing in New Concord, 83-56. Alex Masinelli was ONU’s bane again that day, netting a game-high 22 points on 10 for 15 shooting. First, it’s extremely hard to beat a team three times in a single season. Second, the Polar Bears are expected to be at or near full strength this time.
However, Head Coach Rich Bensman’s ONU squad must find an answer for the talented senior Muskingum guard on Monday. If the Polar Bears can’t, the Fighting Muskies may be heading up to Alliance on Tuesday to try to upset the nationally 10th ranked Mount Union Purple Raiders. Just to add a little spice to Monday’s game, last season Muskingum did travel up to Mount Union for the first round of the OAC tournament. Despite having been blown out by the Purple Raiders in the final two games of the regular season, the Muskies knocked off Mount Union, 88-81.
Nevertheless, two days later, the Fighting Muskies 2020-2021 season ended inside the ONU Sports Center, as Muskingum fell to the Polar Bears, 81-75. The year before that season-ending defeat, Northern finished the Fighting Muskies’ 2019-2020 season as well. ONU handled Muskingum easily in that game, 93-79. Even though Head Coach Travis Schwab’s Muskingum squad swept ONU this year, the Polar Bears have a recent knack for slamming the door shut on Muskie seasons. If there’s a game with an aura of season-ending revenge on Monday, it’s in Ada, Ohio. But a healthy Polar Bears’ team could be a tough challenge for anyone they match up against, especially on their home floor.
• John Carroll University at Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio
The second opening round OAC game on Monday is yet another repeat from last Saturday. However, this time the John Carroll Blue Streaks must make the bus trip down to Wilmington College. The Fighting Quakers win at John Carroll on Saturday averted a season-ending 3-15 conference record. The victory left Wilmington at 4-14, good for seventh in the final OAC standings. A loss to John Carroll last Saturday would have knocked Wilmington into a last place tie with Muskingum. With the win, the Quakers force the Blue Streaks to hit the road on Monday.
In Saturday’s game, after a back-and-forth first 15 minutes, Wilmington inched their way out to a 10-point halftime advantage. However, John Carroll closed the gap fast, tying the game at the 15:00 mark of the second-half on a three-pointer by freshman point guard Omar Abuhamdeh. The Quakers regained the lead 17 seconds later on a triple by senior Jeffrey Mansfield. A layup, followed by a pair of free throws from JCU senior Hugh Brown, put the Blue Streaks back up by 2 points with just under six minutes to play.
The back-and-forth scoring would continue, with the game tied again with five seconds remaining. Freshman Bryce Bird would make two clutch free throws to give Wilmington a one-point lead.
But a possible buzzer-beater from behind the arc by John Carroll senior Jackson Sartain, one of the OAC’s best three-point shooters in league history, would miss the mark. The Quakers escaped with a thrilling 85-84 win.
In the other 2021-2022 meeting between the two OAC schools, Wilmington dominated the Blue Streaks 94-73. John Carroll’s 6’6″ freshman David Gentry tried to carry the Blue Streaks on his back with 12 second-half points. But the Quakers’ senior Anthony Freeman poured in 13 second half points himself, to help seal the win.
The two schools did not play during the shortened 2020-2021 season. To end the 2019-2020 season, John Carroll used a late second-half run to knock off the Quakers 84-67. Despite losing the last two in row, the Blue Streaks have still won 7 out of the last 10 head-to-head against Wilmington.
Last year, Head Coach K.C. Hunt’s Quakers upset Heidelberg in the first round of the OAC tournament. Prior to that upset victory, Wilmington had been knocked out of the OAC tournament in the quarterfinal round five consecutive years. This streak of early exits included being upset at home by Baldwin Wallace to end their 2018-2019 season. Prior to these five-straight quick exits, the Fighting Quakers won the 2013-2014 OAC tournament title by beating these same Blue Streaks.
On the other hand, John Carroll University has a well-documented history in the OAC tournament of spoiling seasons as a lower-seed. Prior to losing by 1-point to Ohio Northern to end the 2020-2021 seasons, the Blue Streaks went down to Marietta as the underdog in consecutive OAC tournaments. In back-to-back seasons, John Carroll upset the higher-seeded Pioneers, spoiling Marietta College’s hopes of adding another banner to their wall.
Both years, however, Mount Union ended the Blue Streaks’ season in the next round. John Carroll University’s men’s basketball team is always a tough out in the tournament, so expect Head Coach Pete Moran’s team to be ready when they take the court in Wilmington. There are four important seniors playing for John Carroll, and three taking the court for Wilmington. This will be a final college basketball game for these players from the team that loses. Expect a hard-fought game in Wilmington.
• A Look Ahead at Tuesday’s OAC Quarterfinals
The two winners from what will certainly be exciting games on Monday will have to tackle the #1 and #2 tournament seeds next. Marietta and Mount Union await the winners of these games. However, the quarterfinal round for the middle four OAC teams in the final standings is already set. Here’s a quick look ahead at Tuesday’s games, starting with the potential matchups at The Banjo and The MAAC.
Marietta College swept both the Polar Bears and the Muskies in 2021-2022. In fact, Head Coach Jon VanderWal’s Pioneers swept the entire OAC conference, finishing 17-0. Both ONU and Muskingum would travel to Marietta, heavy underdogs. Marietta has beaten Ohio Northern nine straight times since getting upended at home in the 2017-2018 OAC semifinal game at Ban Johnson Arena.
Even as successful as Marietta has been against ONU, they’ve dominated Muskingum even more. Since last losing to their rivals in New Concord 12 years ago, the Pioneers have beaten the Muskies 24 straight times. Needless to say, no matter who wins on Monday, the #2 ranked team in the nation will be a heavy favorite to advance on Tuesday night playing in front of a loud crowd inside “The Banjo”.
Likewise, Mount Union will await the winner of the other opening round game. As the second seed, the Purple Raiders will host the winner of the Wilmington/John Carroll game. The last time Mount Union lost to Wilmington at The McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex (The MAAC), was a thrilling, 88-87 game back in 2015.
Recently, Mount Union has had success against both schools. The Purple Raiders handled the Quakers fairly easily in the two 2021-2022 head-to-head matchups. In both games against Wilmington, Mount Union stormed out to big first-half advantages.
The Quakers actually outscored the Purple Raiders in the second half of each loss. However, the end result was never much in question. The last time Mount Union lost to Wilmington in Alliance was that thriller in January 2015.
That game had 18 ties and 14 lead changes. The 2014-2015 Mount Union team also finished second in the regular season behind Marietta College and was the #2 tournament seed. While there are some similarities, it will be huge if somehow the Quakers advanced to Tuesday night and then pulled off another upset at The MAAC.
While the Purple Raiders swept John Carroll this year as well, Mount Union struggled a little more against the Blue Streaks. However, Chase Toppin had 21 points for JCU in that first matchup. His dozen points in the second half helped John Carroll keep the game interesting. But the flashy freshman guard hasn’t played since early December. The Blue Streaks gave Mount Union a tough battle the second time out this year. With 2:00 remaining, JCU carved the Purple Raiders’ lead down to five on senior P.J. Flannery’s three-pointer.
But the Blue Streaks couldn’t get any closer, losing 89-80 on Mount Union’s home floor. John Carroll last defeated the Purple Raiders at The MAAC in January 2017. Needless to say, like the Pioneers, Mount Union will be heavily favored on Tuesday no matter who ends up being their opponent. In the other pair of Tuesday night quarterfinal games, Heidelberg University will host the Capital Comets at Seiberling Gymnasium, and the Otterbein Cardinals welcome the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets to Westerville.
Baldwin Wallace at Otterbein
In the Otterbein/Baldwin Wallace match-up, both teams are coming into Tuesday’s quarterfinal after suffering heartbreaking regular season-ending losses. Both defeats came on each team’s home floor. Otterbein lost on a clutch, late-game turnaround baseline jumper, while BW fell to Capital, 73-72 in overtime.
Baldwin Wallace and Otterbein only played once in 2021-2022. The first scheduled game back in January was cancelled. In the only head-to-head 2021-2022 matchup, the Cardinals used a balanced attack, led by sophomore Cam Evans, to hold off the Yellow Jackets in Berea. BW actually clawed their back in that game to within two-points with 11 seconds left on the clock.
But junior Dallas Patrick made one of two free throws for Otterbein, and Yellow Jacket junior guard Anthony Mazzeo’s three-pointer was off the mark. However, Baldwin Wallace has been a thorn in Otterbein’s in recent years. Since 2013, the Yellow Jackets had beaten the Cardinals 16 straight times before losing earlier this month. Third-year Cardinal Head Coach Andy Winters can only hope that win knocked a big monkey off his team’s back.
As well, Otterbein has not been crowned the conference tournament champion since beating Heidelberg in 1994. Baldwin Wallace’s most recent OAC tournament title was just three seasons ago. On February 23, 2019, BW upset Mount Union in Alliance to earn the NCAA automatic bid. After beating the Salisbury Sea Gulls in the opening round, the Yellow Jackets fell to Oswego State in a second-round overtime thriller. Only junior Shane Zalba and senior Luke Schaefer remain from that successful BW squad.
Otterbein has a very slim chance of earning one of only 20 at-large bids when the selection committee announces the 64 team field next week. The Cardinals’ bubble chance will probably burst if they get stung on their home court by the Yellow Jackets on Tuesday. For Head Coach Tom Heil’s Baldwin Wallace team, the next loss will bring the Yellow Jackets’ 2021-2022 season to an end.
The only way that happens in March, is to knock off Otterbein on Reynolds Court. Only three teams have been able to accomplish that monumental task this year. Two of them are ranked in the top-10 nationally, Marietta and Mount Union. All three were close games. It’ll be a tall order for the Yellow Jackets to advance, playing in a hostile environment, against a Cardinals’ team with three highly-motivated seniors in the starting lineup.
Capital at Heidelberg
In the other quarterfinal game on Tuesday that’s already set, Heidelberg will host Capital University in Tiffin, Ohio. The Student Princes and Comets split their two 2021-2022 regular season games. Back in early January, Head Coach Andy Bucheit’s Heidelberg squad handled the Comets easily at Seiberling Gymnasium.
Two weeks ago, Capital and Heidelberg played their second 2021-2022 head-to-head match-up. On the wave of a huge second-half comeback, Head Coach Damon Goodwin’s Comets were able to squeak out a five-point win at The Capital Center. The last meeting was actually a tale of two halves.
The Student Princes finished the first half on a blistering pace, jumping out to a 10-point halftime advantage. But Heidelberg went stone-cold from behind the arc in the second half, missing 11 out of 12 three-point attempts. The Comets battled back to regain the lead on junior Ryan Roth’s three-pointer with 6:24 left to play. Capital held on for a 73-68 victory.
But that Comets’ win was in front of a raucous Capital Center crowd. Tuesday, Capital must beat a very good Heidelberg basketball team on the Student Princes’ home floor. Only Ohio Wesleyan, Marietta, and Mount Union have been able to win in Tiffin during the 2021-2022 season. Expect Seiberling Gymnasium to be filled with a bunch of noisy “Berg” fans. The Capital Comets have their work cut out for them if they want to pull off an upset on Tuesday in Tiffin.
• March Madness Implications?
A side note on the first set of 2021-2022 OAC tournament games, both Heidelberg and Otterbein will be playing for more than just the right to advance to the semifinals. In lieu of winning the tournament title outright, therefore earning the OAC’s automatic NCAA Championship berth, both are potential bubble teams ahead of Selection Monday.
It figures to be a foregone conclusion that both Marietta and Mount Union will make the field no matter what. But the Student Princes and Cardinals would benefit tremendously from a deep run in the conference tournament. Heidelberg climbed into the top-25 earlier in the season, so the Student Princes might have a slight edge over Otterbein.
However, the Cardinals lost in Tiffin by only three points, and then beat Heidelberg by 10 points two weeks ago at the Rike Center. Other than the heartbreaking home court loss to Capital, Otterbein has only lost to Marietta and Mount Union since mid-January. Both defeats were extremely close, including last Saturday’s loss to the Purple Raiders on that late-game jumper by Mount Union sophomore Christian Parker.
There is also some added motivation for the Cardinals. The once proud OAC basketball power posted their first winning record since 2006-2007 this year. The Cardinals have an illustrious OAC heritage in men’s basketball. Otterbein won 6 out of 8 OAC regular season titles between 1984 and 1992.
The 1985-1986 Cardinals squad was the last to go unbeaten in the conference until Marietta College accomplished this elite goal last Saturday, when the Pioneers defeated Heidelberg. During that same stretch of success, the Cardinals captured four OAC tournament banners. Advancing on Tuesday by beating the Yellow Jackets will help Otterbein begin to recapture some of that glory.
After the shortened 2020-2021 season, the Ohio Athletic Conference expanded this year’s conference tournament. All ten teams have a chance at the OAC’s automatic NCAA Championship bid. That, in and of itself, adds an extra element of excitement.
Monday night, four bonafide Cinderella teams will try to punch their ticket into the OAC quarterfinals. On Tuesday, the 2021-2022 OAC tournament bracket will have been whittled back down to its normal eight schools.
After the four quarterfinal battles, four teams will be left standing in the OAC semifinals. The winners from those two games will fight for the guarantee of playing on into March. It’s NCAA basketball tournament time, small school style. Division III March Madness gets a head start for the 10 Ohio Athletic Conference teams, and everybody has their “eyes on playing in March”.
The Word Jester is not employed by Marietta College, and is not affiliated with the Ohio Athletic Conference or D3 Hoops.com
The opinions expressed in this article are the exclusive viewpoints of the author.
They do not reflect the points of view, policies, or principles of any outside agency or organization.
