2020 OAC Men’s Basketball Tournament Semi-Final Outlook
Wednesday February 26, 2020 By C. Jay Prescher
Tuesday night’s OAC men’s basketball quarterfinal games cut the field of teams in half. Eight of the Ohio Athletic Conference’s ten teams had hopes of hoisting the 2020 tournament trophy.
Cutting down the nets on Saturday afternoon also gets the eventual champions an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III’s version of March Madness.
But, now there are only four teams with hopes of securing that invitation. Here’s a quick recap of Tuesday’s games, plus a look at what lies ahead for Thursday.
Tuesday’s Quarterfinal Recap
All but one team earned came up victorious on their home court last evening. As we predicted, Heidelberg proved to be very problematic for defending champion Baldwin Wallace. The Student Princes, buoyed by a 30-point outburst from senior Tamal Watkins, ended the Yellow Jackets 2020 season, 75-69.
About 70 miles southeast of Berea, the number-one seeded and nationally 7th ranked Mount Union Purple Raiders had little trouble disposing of the eighth-seeded Otterbein Cardinals. You simply cannot hand a top-10 ranked team 20 turnovers, and expect to show well on the scoreboard.
Besides handing the ball over to the Purple Raiders for 28 of their 75 points, Otterbein had no answer for OAC super-sixth man D’Vontay Friga out of Cuyahoga Falls. Friga had a career game. He missed only 7 out of 19 shots on the night, five of those misses coming on the nine tries he hoisted from beyond the three-point arc.
The third OAC tournament game played just outside the Cleveland metropolitan area looked like it could potentially be the hardest fought of all the quarterfinal games. John Carroll and Capital had a one-point battle and an overtime game in their split of their two game regular season series.
However, this time supported by an enthusiastic crowd on their home court in University Heights, the Blue Streak started fast and had the Crusaders in their rear-view mirror by about midway through the first 20-minutes. Capital managed to net only 3 out of 15 three-point attempts, while JCU buried 10 triples. With a 22 point lead at the break, John Carroll coasted to a 30-point victory.
The fourth quarterfinal match was held way down on the Ohio River. Marietta College welcomed the Wilmington Quakers to Ban Johnson Arena. Less than two weeks earlier, the Pioneers had thrashed the Quakers by 30-points on this same court. The aura at the Banjo prior to tip-off seemed to be one of a calm sense of relaxed anticipation.
Most assumed the outcome of this game was a foregone conclusion, with the most exciting thing being the eventual knowledge of who Thursday’s opponent would be.
Head coach KC Hunt’s Quakers had other plans for the Pios. Marietta never pushed a lead into double-digits on this night. Every time it appeared the Pioneers were gaining momentum, Wilmington’s smothering defense would choke the Pioneer’s attempts to open up the game. Quaker defenders stuck to the Pioneers like glue.
Wilmington used a full court press and aggressive defense to help force Marietta into 21 turnovers. Jeffery Mansfield finished an excellent season with a 28-point effort to lead all scorers. Jason Ellis netted 20 for the Pios, aided by 15 from Tim Kreeger and another 13 from Mason Lydic
Kreeger and senior Caleb Hoyng yanked down nine rebounds apiece to help lead Marietta to what was a much more difficult victory than anyone expected, except for the tough-nosed Quakers.
Thursday’s Semi-Final Games
#5 Heidelberg Student Princes at #1 Mount Union Purple Raiders
As the only lower seed and visiting school to win their opening round game, Heidelberg instantly became the OAC tournament’s Cinderella Story. To beat the red-hot Purple Raiders at the MAAC will require something more than the wave of magical wand. It is going to be a tall order to take out the tournament’s top seed in front of their home crowd.
However, there is that single blemish on the Mount Union OAC regular season record. Yep, you got it. That one in the Purple Raider’s loss column came at the hands of these same Student Princes. In a game that boasted eight ties and a dozen lead changes, Heidelberg opened January with a thrilling one-point victory on their home hardwood in Tiffin.
That would be the only time Mount Union would lose in conference play. It would also be the last time they would lose, period. The Purple Raiders have climbed from, not ranked nationally to begin the season, to the 7th spot. As we noted in the quarterfinal outlook, Mount Union thought they should have been afforded an at-large bid for last season’s DIII men’s tournament.
They will carry that season-long chip on their shoulder into Thursday’s rematch; face-to-face with the only team to blemish an otherwise perfect 2019-20 OAC regular season record. We think it’s going to take an unbelievable performance by the Student Princes in Alliance on Thursday, or this Cinderella is going to be left slipper-less.
#3 John Carroll University Blue Streaks at #2 Marietta College Pioneers
The second semi-final battle is probably going to be just that, a war on the Ohio River. John Carroll and Marietta have played many a donnybrook game on the hardwood over the years. It is unlikely that this one will be any different. Thursday night will be the rubber-match between these two conference rivals. If history is any indicator, it’s shaping up to be a good one.
Back in December, the Pioneers Jason Ellis and the Blue Streak’s Ryan Berger each put on spectacular offensive shows. Ellis buried a season-high 51 points to almost single-handedly dismantle John Carroll. Christian James and Mason Lydic hit for 12 and 10 respectfully, but it was Ellis’ career performance that netted nearly half the Pioneers 104 points.
John Carroll owns 14 wins out of the 26 times these two Division III rivals have met on the hardwood. The Blue Streak swept the Pioneers in the regular season two years ago. Sandwiched on either side of the 2017-18 season, the two schools split the home-and-away regular season games. However, tournament time is where things get more personal for the #21 nationally ranked Pioneers.
John Carroll traveled down I-77 back on another February 27, four years ago. In what had to be one of the most exciting games in Ban Johnson Arena history, JCU snatched the OAC tournament title away from the then fourth-ranked team in the country.
The Jester’s Last Word
One year ago, the Pioneers would host these same Blue Streaks, looking to secure the automatic bid. On that fateful afternoon, Ryan Berger would lead four John Carroll players with double-digit points. For the second time in four seasons, the Blue Streak ended the Pioneers hopes of hoisting another conference tournament banner.
The MAAC will be full of Mount Union faithful tomorrow night, awaiting a chance to extract revenge for that single OAC regular season defeat. It would seem unlikely, that a team with so much momentum could be derailed twice in a single season by a good, but simply less talented Student Princes team,.
Way down at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, there will be another full house. Ban Johnson Arena will be rocking as Marietta College welcomes back the Berger Twins for their last appearance on Fenton Court. These two senior student/athletes have been the model of class during their college basketball careers.
However, there will be an energized welcoming committee waiting inside the Banjo. The PioNation will loudly vocalize their hopes of sending them off to graduation with a loss in their final collegiate game. If all goes according to plan, Marietta will head back up to Alliance in hopes that the third time’s a charm; with the OAC’s automatic bid and a possible #1 NCAA tournament seed on the line.
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.