2020 OAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal Outlook
Tuesday, February 25, 2020 by C. Jay Prescher
Tuesday night, four Division III men’s basketball teams will host quarterfinal-round match-ups in the 2020 Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. Eight of the ten OAC teams get their shot a staking claim to the 2020 conference tournament crown. The Mount Union Purple Raiders will have home court advantage throughout the tournament if they win.
Defending OAC Tournament Champion Baldwin Wallace will host their opening game. Ban Johnson Arena in Marietta, Ohio and the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on the campus of John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio will be the other quarterfinal host locations. Here’s a look into Tuesday’s opening games, and how we think things might play out heading into Thursday’s semi-finals.
#8 Otterbein at #1 Mount Union
The Mount Union Purple Raiders pounded out 17 regular season OAC victories to earn the top seed. Mount Union dominated the Cardinals in their last meeting at The MAAC, up by as many as 30 points ahead of the final horn.
Otterbein had kept the first meeting closer, but still lost by double-digits. The Purple Raiders have climbed to seventh in the DIII national poll, riding the wave of a 14 game winning streak.
After being snubbed for an NCAA Division III tournament invitation last season, the Purple Raiders have played 2019-20 with a proverbial chip on their shoulder. A virtual lock in 2020, an OAC tournament crown might inch Mount Union to a spot where all roads in their region will travel through Alliance.
The Purple Raiders are the only OAC team to have three players finish the season in the top-dozen leading OAC scorers. Nathan Bower-Malone and Collen Gurley make up one of the most potent one-two guard combos in the nation.
Not to be over shadowed, Mount Union has possibly the best sixth-man in the conference in D’Vontay Friga. Without a total meltdown by one of the hottest small college basketball teams in the country, Mount Union will host the winner of the Heidelberg vs. Baldwin Wallace match up.
#5 Heidelberg at #4 Baldwin Wallace
The #4 vs. #5 first-round OAC matchup is one that may have the largest potential for an upset. A grand total of four points separated these two teams in their head-to-head battles during the regular season. Heidelberg used a smothering second-half defense to hold the Yellow Jackets to 19 points in the first game way back on December 4.
They recently used that same type of defensive effort to upset then #16 ranked Marietta College. The Berg has been a tale of two teams. After a three game winning streak, a streak that included a win over John Carroll in University Heights, Heidelberg proceeded to drop three in a row, losing control of hosting a first-round game.
The Yellow Jackets held off a Heidelberg in the second meeting at Ursprung Gymnasium in January. Tamal Watkins hit a jump shot to pull the Student Princes to within a point.
But, he could not connect on a buzzer three-point attempt after two Baldwin Wallace free throws stretched the lead to its final three point margin. Baldwin Wallace had one three-game winning streak all season.
They will need to put the home court advantage to work for them to beat the Student Princes. If Heidelberg can play at the same tenacious level they did last Saturday, look for them to travel to Alliance on Thursday.
#7 Wilmington at #2 Marietta College
The Quakers enter the conference tournament on a downward spiral. Wilmington is the loser of three-straight, including a 31-point drubbing at the hands of the Pioneers less than two weeks ago. Marietta defeated the Quakers in their first head-to-head matchup by 11.
The Pioneers will bring an incredible home court advantage playing in front of a raucous crowd inside Ban Johnson Arena. Coach VanderWal’s squad will attempt to use this advantage to open a run towards avenging the first season in five, which the Pioneers were not at worst co-regular season champs.
MC hoisted three OAC tourney banners during the last decade, including two years as the tournament runner-up. Like Mount Union, Marietta has at times been dominant this season. The five times the Pioneers have been on the short end of the final score, they have had a terrible time getting shots to fall.
Three Pioneers lead an often eerily balanced scoring attack. Jason Ellis is the teams leading scorer, but sophomore Lukas Isaly and Tim Kreeger have both netted over 20 points twice during the regular season.
Kreeger was on a most-impressive run of five straight games with double-digit points until a six point effort last Saturday in Tiffin. Early in the month, the 6’8” junior out of Delphos St. Johns posted an impressive 15/12 double-double.
The only pair of seniors on the MC squad supply senior leadership. Mike Hall and Caleb Hoyng have added some timely shooting and strong defense, despite not being the top scoring option.
Both seniors have hauled down double-digit rebounds at least once over the last month. These two model student-athletes will hope to add at least one more game on Fenton Court to their collegiate careers.
The Quakers have talent, but they may prove to be too under-sized against the large front line Marietta can put on the court. Marietta will need to keep track of Quaker sophomore Jeffery Mansfield.
Mansfield has hit double-digit points in every game since a low point effort on December 18. His run includes two games over 30 points, and an impressive 41 against conference champion Mount Union.
#6 Capital at #3 John Carroll
A pair of seniors will begin their last trip through the Ohio Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament. Ryan and Jimmy Berger will play possibly their last home game in front of their home crowd at the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center.
These two consistently solid performers led the Blue Streaks to 17 wins this past season. All eight John Carroll losses in 2019-20 were against OAC teams. Capital beat them by a single point on their home court back in January.
John Carroll returned the favor, besting the Crusaders in Columbus in a thrilling overtime game. We can expect this to be a close battle until the end. While John Carroll depends on their twin senior leadership, Capital has four players who finished with more than 10ppg.
Tyler Schrek had a pair of double-doubles in February, and almost added a third in a 15-point loss to Mount Union to end the regular season. Ganiyu Yahaya leads the Crusaders at 15-points per game.
Capital will have to contend with the statistical consistency of the Berger twins. John Carroll also gets outstanding court leadership from another senior. Point guard John Flannery brings a tenacious level of defense, but can produce a calming effect on the Blue Streak offense when buckets seem hard to find.
The Crusader’s defense will have a difficult time with three seniors who do not want this to be their final OAC basketball game. Look for this to be an exciting game, one that should find John Carroll make bus preparations for a return trip to battle their rival Pioneers on Thursday.
The Jester’s Last Word
This is how we think things could shake out Tuesday night. There is some indication the defending tournament champions may be the most vulnerable quarterfinal round home team.
If the other top seeds take care of business, we should be in for another round of exciting DIII basketball Thursday evening. Check back for our thoughts on how we think the OAC men’s basketball tournament semi-finals will play out.
The Word Jester is not affiliated with the Ohio Athletic Conference, any member school, coach, or player.
The opinions expressed in this story are the exclusive viewpoints of the author.
They do not reflect the points of view, policies, or principles of any agency or organization.