Marietta College Pioneers at Baldwin Wallace
Saturday – January 28 – 2:00 pm
Ursprung Gymnasium – Berea, Ohio
Live Stream Link
Pioneers Head to Berea to “Sting the Jackets”
January 28, by C. Jay Prescher
The Marietta College men’s basketball team is fresh off back-to-back 20-point OAC victories. However, the Pioneers are beginning a critical three-game conference stretch on the road. Finishing off a two-win three-game home stand, Marietta held both Ohio Northern and Otterbein to under 60 points. Needless to say, stellar defense was instrumental in both wins. The Navy Blue have also started to shoot the ball better.
While the 3-pointers weren’t quite finding their mark with consistency against the Cardinals on Wednesday, better shot selection is leading to more open looks. Another huge recent improvement is at the charity stripe. The Pioneers have made over 70% of their free throws in each of the last two victories. Throughout much of the season, that has not been the case. In the tough Ohio Athletic Conference, where many games go down to the wire, free throws invariably prove critical.
Improved offensive efficiency and lockdown defense have the Pioneers looking for a third consecutive victory on Saturday. It will not be easy. At 5-6 in the conference, Baldwin Wallace is one game behind the Pioneers in the race for a home quarterfinal game in the conference tournament. Marietta currently leads Capital by a ½-game with a critical match-up against the Comets coming up on February 15th in Columbus.
But the #3 tournament seed is also a realistic goal for the Pioneers. Marietta is one game behind Heidelberg with a regular season finale slated for “The BanJo” on Saturday, February 18th. But looking ahead past the 9-9 Yellow Jackets would be a mistake. Like Otterbein before Wednesday’s loss in Marietta, Baldwin Wallace has currently won two straight. The most recent Yellow Jacket victory was an overtime win over Heidelberg at Ursprung Gymnasium.
BW will have that same home-court advantage on Saturday. Anthony Mazzeo has had the hot hand for the Yellow Jackets. The senior guard has averaged 20.0 points per game in the last two, shooting better than 50% from beyond the arc. The Pioneers’ perimeter defense needs to smother the BW team leader.
But as important as outside shooting will be in Saturday’s game, play under the bucket will prove critical. Marietta got BW’s most versatile post threat in early foul trouble during the 5-point Pioneer win at The BanJo. But that game was way back in early December. Senior Jackson Simmons has hauled down 20 rebounds to help BW win two in a row.
Simmons’ 20 boards included a double-double in the win over Heidelberg. But Marietta’s post play has been steadily improving. Big man Frank Waganfeald has been a beast on the boards the last two games. The 6’8” sophomore pulled down 10 rebounds on Saturday. Waganfeald has taken up the rebounding slack as opponents focus much of their attention on keeping Sahmi Willoughby in check.
But Willoughby, who yanked down 8 offensive rebounds in the first BW meeting, secured another 8 offensive boards against Otterbein. With help from Ethan Anderson and Brennan Crawford, Marietta needs to dominate the glass. In addition to the recent play of Anthony Mazzeo, Ashton Price has stepped up for the Yellow Jackets. Price has averaged 18.5 ppg over the last two BW wins while shooting over 50% from the field on 27 field goal attempts.
Besides needing a stellar effort from the “big men in the middle,” Marietta needs another game with lockdown team defense. Coach Jon Vanderwal tweaked the Pioneers’ rotation recently. Ryan MaGill, Jack Main, and Torin Lochow have been seeing increased minutes. While the trio hasn’t been super successful on offense, their defensive contributions have been tremendous. We can probably expect another healthy amount of court time for this trio.
The Pioneers have also seen an increase in productivity from their primary offensive threats. Cooper Parrott seems to have rediscovered his outstanding shooting stroke. The 6’3” junior’s improvement at the foul line has been a clear indication he’s primed for a hot streak.
Guards Jac Alexander and David Sanford have now both scored in double digits in back-to-back games. After netting an uncharacteristic single point in the win against ONU, exciting wingman Lovenson Xavier scored 18 in the victory over Otterbein. Gradually, the Pioneers are developing into an offensive team where drawing up a defensive strategy to stop a single player simply opens opportunities for another.
• Keys to a Pioneer Victory •
• Overcome the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium home crowd. Marietta has only lost five times to BW since 2010. However, four of those have come in Berea. The Pioneers need to start solid and take the Yellow Jacket crowd out of the game.
• In the first game, Marietta won the rebound battle over Baldwin Wallace 43 to 39. The Pioneers need to control the boards again, especially benefiting from offensive rebounds and second chances. The Pioneers have a clear advantage in the post, and they must take advantage.
• The Pioneers forced 13 Yellow Jacket turnovers while committing 10 themselves. It would be extremely helpful to widen that margin. Marietta is notoriously good at taking care of the basketball, but they have had problems when they struggle to protect the ball.
• Marietta missed five out of six free throws in the first half of December’s game one. While they improved to 13-15 in the second half to hold off BW, the Pioneers must continue to make their foul shots. BW nets 70% of their free throws on the season, including 81% (17-21) in a 20-point win over Wilmington a week ago.
Marietta is inching closer to matching their season-long four-game winning streak. If they can overcome the home court advantage and knock off BW on Saturday, the Pioneers will own the tiebreaker over two out of the three other teams vying for the 4th seed in the tournament.
The Navy Blue will also continue to push Heidelberg for the 3rd seed while maintaining that all-important momentum heading down the stretch. Pioneer fans who can’t make it up to Berea can watch the game on the BW live stream.
Player photographs courtesy of Marietta College Pioneer Athletics – Men’s Basketball
The Word Jester is not employed by Marietta College, and is not affiliated with the Ohio Athletic Conference or D3 Hoops.com
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