Marietta College Pioneers at Muskingum Fighting Muskies
Wednesday – February 1 – 7:00 pm
Performance Court – New Concord, Ohio
Live Stream Link
Never – EVER Look Past a Rivalry Game!
January 31, by C. Jay Prescher
The Marietta College men’s basketball team will head north to New Concord for the second game in an important three-game OAC road swing. The Pioneers are fresh off an exciting 86-84 victory over Baldwin Wallace last Saturday. Overcoming a raucous home crowd in Berea, Marietta used a full team effort to notch their third consecutive win. The Pioneers are now 7-5 in the conference, one game behind Heidelberg for third place in the OAC standings. The Student Princes have a tough home game against John Carroll this Wednesday, with a final regular season finale looming against the Pioneers at “The BanJo.”
But before the Pioneers can think about what lies ahead, they must guard against a letdown against the Muskingum Fighting Muskies. The Muskies are not having a successful season, to say the least. Muskingum has a single victory in 2022-2023, a six-point home win over Wilmington. Yes, Pioneer fans, that’s the same Wilmington team that shocked the Pioneers early this month on the Quakers’ home floor. This is the Ohio Athletic Conference. No game is easy.
But Marietta is a more talented team than Muskingum. They should win. Nonetheless, the Navy Blue must guard against looking past a 1-18 basketball team. After Saturday’s game in New Concord, the Pioneers will prepare for a trip up to University Heights to face the #7 nationally ranked John Carroll Blue Streaks. The urge to look past a one-win team towards upsetting a nationally ranked conference opponent is obvious. Rest assured, Coach Jon Vanderwal will have his team focused on not allowing that to happen.
After the trip up to face the Blue Streaks next Saturday, Marietta will return home to face another nationally ranked OAC team. Mount Union will come to The BanJo on Wednesday, February 8. On February 11, the Pioneers will welcome Wilmington to town for “Winter Weekend,” hoping to extract a little revenge on the Quakers. But adhering to the one-game-at-a-time approach, next up is Muskingum.
• Keys to a Pioneer Victory •
- Clearly, the biggest key to victory is to simply NOT take the Fighting Muskies lightly. By every metric, Marietta should win this basketball game. But in OAC rivalry games, sometimes you can throw the metrics out the window.
- The Pioneers just need to play their game. Marietta averages nearly 77 ppg, while Muskingum averages a paltry 60. The Fighting Muskies have scored over 70 points once all season. In the simplest of terms, the Pioneers just need to stick to the game plan and score the basketball.
- Marietta pulls down 42½ rebounds a game; Muskingum 31½. There is no reason the Pioneers shouldn’t dominate the glass on Wednesday night, none whatsoever. In the Pioneers’ 36-point win early this season, Marietta outrebounded the Fighting Muskies 47-28. There can be no letdown on the boards.
All the statistics and game metrics aside, the Marietta College Pioneers are the superior basketball team. A Muskingum win, albeit on their home floor in a rivalry game, would be a monumental upset. If the Pioneers want to continue to strive towards postseason aspirations, they must beat the teams they are supposed to beat. Tomorrow is the first.
We anticipate a large number of Pioneer faithful making the short trip up to New Concord. Yours truly will be part of the crowd. We’ll be sassy and loud after indulging in some pre-game treats at “Tom’s Ice Cream Bowl.”
The Marietta College men’s basketball team is getting better each game. This young squad is improving at the perfect time of the season. Everything that’s happened thus far is setting the table for potential postseason success. The Pioneers are talented enough to make a lot of noise down the 2022-2023 homestretch. Looking past the Muskingum Fighting Muskies would seriously wound these hopes. Let’s not let it happen.
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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They do not reflect the points of view, policies, or principles of any outside agency or organization.
