2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship “Elite 8“
Marietta College Pioneers
vs.
Christopher Newport University Captains
Saturday – March 12 – 7:00 pm
Fenton Court at Ban Johnson Arena
How the Pioneers Can Blaze a Trail to the Final Four
March 12, 2022 by C. Jay Prescher
In a few hours at Ban Johnson Arena, the Marietta College Pioneers’ men’s basketball team will attempt to take another step towards a remarkable goal. Gazing out a window this morning in Marietta, Ohio, everyone will need to first shovel themselves out from under a healthy blanket of March snow.
But tonight, inside a feverishly loud “BanJo”, things will be steamy. The Pioneers will look to “blaze a trail”. It is a trail that will ultimately see Marietta make the school’s first-ever appearance in an NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship “Final Four”. The road will not be easy. In Marietta’s path, stands one of the elite basketball programs in the nation.
Christopher Newport has as impressive of a 2021-2022 resume as any of the remaining “Elite 8” teams. The Captains’ basketball program has a history of winning big games. They’ve been in these types of pressure situations before. CNU is an exceptionally gifted team. Good enough to have tagged the No. 1 team in the country with its only loss this season.
But the (28-2) Marietta College Pioneers are an exceptional basketball team too. The Pioneers have a proud history themselves. These two teams know each other well. Marietta and CNU met last November. The Pioneers handed Christopher Newport (27-2), one of those two losses. Marietta will try to give the Captains their third, a defeat that will end the CNU season.
It’s March. It’s NCAA tournament basketball. Someone wins, and someone goes home. The stakes on Saturday are enormous. A trip to the 2022 Final Four is on the line. Before we grab a shovel and dig out from under a few inches of snow, let’s dig into tonight’s sectional final. How can the Pioneers defeat an extremely talented Christopher Newport basketball team, and earn a victory that will blaze the Pioneer’s trail to the Final Four?
2022 NCAA Division III “Elite 8” Bracket
Pioneers Prepare to Blaze a Trail
Second time Around – Quick Game #1 Recap: Marietta College and Christopher Newport played exactly four months ago to the day. It was the Pioneers’ season-opener. The Captains were playing their third game. The game was part of the Dick Leftwich Tip-Off Tournament on the campus of Roanoke College in Roanoke, Virginia.
At the Creeger Center, Marietta toughed out an 86-83 victory over CNU. At the time, the Pioneers were ranked #3 in the D3Hoops.com preseason poll. But someone missed the boat on the Captains. CNU wasn’t even ranked in the top-25. The Captains were way down on the list of teams receiving any votes. In late November, by the end of week #1, that changed. Since November, CNU has proven the early polls wrong, very wrong. The Captains have climbed ever since.
CNU will enter tonight’s game at #4 in the nation, two spots below the #2 Pioneers. They very well deserve this high ranking. Some small college basketball experts are whispering that they believe this CNU team may be the best team in the country right now. Marietta hopes to have something to say about that. To summarize the first meeting, Christopher Newport came out blazing hot. With 5:10 left in the half, CNU had stretched their lead out to a dozen.
But Marietta closed out the first half strong. The Pioneers held the Captains to a single point over the final five minutes, carving the lead down to four at the break. Marietta stayed close throughout the second half. Eventually, the Pioneers inched ahead with 1:25 remaining and then held on for the three-point win. Let’s look at some situations and stats from that game and forecast how they might help the Pioneers blaze that trail to the Final Four.
Win the Battle From Beyond the Arc: Looking ahead at tonight’s big match-up, one big takeaway from that November meeting was how both Marietta and CNU scored their points. The Captains built their early lead by coming out blistering hot from the field. CNU finished the first 20 minutes 5-11 from beyond the arc. Marietta took four three-pointers and missed them all in the first half.
Furthermore, the Pioneers only launched a total of eight three-point attempts for the entire game. After missing all four tries in the first-half, Marietta went 3-4 in the second half. That’s 3-8 on three-pointers in a game, by a team that averages nearly two dozen attempts every 40 minutes. The Pioneers season average for successful three-point shots is nine a game, triple the number of 3’s they made in the first meeting.
Furthermore, in the first game, CNU shot 8-23 from beyond the arc. That’s about spot-on to what the Captains’ did the rest of the season. Shooting wise, CNU really did nothing out of the ordinary in that first match-up. However, that first Marietta game was completely uncharacteristic of who the Pioneers are as an offensive team.
In 2021-2022, Marietta is ranked 32nd in total number of three-point attempts. The Pioneers are the 15th best shooting team in the country from beyond the arc. Marietta is going launch more than eight three-pointers on Saturday night, way more – count on it. The Pioneers are going to hit more than three long bombs as well. We can count on that too.
If the Pioneers shoot up to their capabilities, it’ll be a huge improvement over what happened in the first head-to-head meeting. Count on the final three-point numbers to be reflective of who wins this game. If the Pioneers can win the battle from beyond the arc, they will win the game.
Limit the Points in the Paint: Another feature of that first game was that Christopher Newport had a 14-point advantage for “points in the paint”. Marietta needs to narrow that gap on Saturday. The Captains are a much taller team. CNU relies on a balanced offensive approach. But they get lots of easy points in close. Their strong low-post play also helps free up their outside shooters.
When both parts of their offense are clicking, CNU is difficult to defend. In Marietta’s second round NCAA win over Rochester, the YellowJackets took advantage of a huge second half by their star big man. Mostly because of this performance, Rochester outscored Marietta in points in the paint. But the Pioneers dominated under the bucket in their other two NCAA wins.
Despite the lopsided final numbers against Rochester, Marietta’s post-play has been outstanding in three tournament games. Every Pioneer post-player has come up big at one moment or another. CNU is very physical under the basket. The Pioneers don’t necessarily need to score more points in the paint, but they must limit the Captains’ ability to score down low at will. If they do, it will neutralize one of CNU’s important weapons.
Win the Battle of the Boards: In the first meeting, Marietta out-rebounded a taller CNU team. The Pioneers finished with a 37-34 edge in rebounds. Marietta also snagged 12 offensive boards to the Captains’ 10. Christopher Newport has the 10th best rebounding margin in the country. They out-rebound opponents by nine more rebounds a game. Marietta cannot let that happen because CNU is the 64th best shooting team percentage-wise.
If the Captains constantly get second chances, it will spell trouble. Marietta must battle to prevent second looks. It will not be easy against a tall and agile frontline. As well, the Pioneers rank only nine places below CNU in shooting percentage, at 73rd overall. So if the Pioneers can grab second chances that will put CNU on their heels.
Rebounding is important in every basketball game. It will be critical on Saturday. Marietta is a good rebounding team. It’s one of the Captains’ strongest assets. The Pioneers must find a way to be the better rebounding team on Saturday. Win the battle of the boards and win the game.
If Marietta can out shoot CNU from deep and come close to balancing out points in the paint, Marietta will gain an edge they did not exploit in game number one. The Pioneers must also out-rebound the Captains, or keep the rebounding margin very close. Marietta is due for a total-team, all out offensive explosion. This is the perfect time of the year for one. Scoring points against a taller CNU team will be difficult. But this Pioneers’ squad has multiple weapons.
When the final buzzer of the 2021-2022 Fenton Court season goes off on Saturday, hopefully it proclaims that there’s still more basketball ahead for this team. If Marietta stays focused and shoots three-pointers like they’re capable, the Pioneers will finish with at least one more point than the Captains. In all honesty, that’s all that matters now.
When it comes to March Madness, all you need is one more point. If that happens, the Pioneers and their exuberant fans will “Celebrate the Good Times” on Fenton Court. But if Marietta College is victorious on Saturday, these young men are not finished. There is another full week of work ahead. This team has something far bigger in mind.
Five Marietta seniors have stamped their mark on Pioneers’ basketball history. While Saturday’s game will be their last on Fenton Court, they do not want it to be the last one of their careers. For these five young men and their Pioneer teammates, a date with destiny may await them just across the Ohio/Indiana state line.
These five special seniors want their college basketball careers to end in jubilation on the court at the War Memorial Coliseum. The entire Pioneers’ basketball team and coaches have a goal, to experience the ultimate feeling of accomplishment in sports, to be crowned a champion.
A final chapter to this story will hopefully be written with the “Hoosier State” as the backdrop. A final chapter filled with hugs, high-fives, and maybe a few tears of joy. Standing proud, passing around a pair of scissors – taking turns climbing up a stepladder. A piece of basketball net as a cherished memory, an indescribable reward for their hard work and dedication. That’s their mission.
One step towards this mission must happen first. Marietta must clip the nets one final time at Fenton Court tonight. If they complete that step, a new quest will begin on Monday. That quest will be fulfilled when “Legends Rise”.
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.
