Marietta College hoops teams sweep Wilmington College | News, Sports, Jobs

(Photo by Jordan Holland)
Marietta College’s Ryan Reidy (10) drives the baseline as Wilmington’s Travis Mitchell (14) defends during a college men’s basketball game Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena. Marietta won, 78-61.

Sophomore Addy Black had a big first half in Marietta College’s 78-61 win over Wilmington Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena.

The 6-foot-4 post player was a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor in the first 20 minutes, including a pair of corner 3-pointers and a couple slam dunks.

“That first half he was just lights out,” said Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal. “A couple 3s, a couple dunks. That’s a good half for anyone.”

Marietta, ranked eighth in the country, has played several guys in the post this season, with Black taking over one of the starting spots recently. He’s responded well to the expanded role.

“He’s just getting more comfortable,” VanderWal said. “That’s just kind of what happens when guys start to log some minutes, They see the ball go through the hoop. He’s getting more and more comfortable and he’s played great the last two games, especially tonight.”

Black’s first 3-pointer put marietta up 9-4 early. Hit another one later, off an assist from Lukas Isaly, to make it 23-15.

Then, at the 7:48 mark, Jason Ellis came up with a steal and went coast to coast before lobbing up a pass to Black, who slammed it home to make it 25-15. His second dunk came with 3:36 left in the half, this time off a feed from Isaly to make it 34-17.

“Very unselfish plays by my teammates,” said Black, who registered a game-high 15 points. “Jason throwing that oop, I really wasn’t expecting that one. It’s just good to get the crowd behind us. Always good to play at the BanJo and get some energy going.”

With 2:30 remaining, Brennen Crawford stripped the ball away and took it the length of the floor, making a nice eurostep move past a defender for a layup, which drew a big ovation from his teammates on the bench. Crawford made another bucket a minute later off a steal and assist from Cooper Parrott. Then, jumpers by Ryan Reidy and Brett Martin put MC up 42-22 at halftime.

The Pioneers were a bit sloppier in the second half, but the final result was never in doubt as the Quakers couldn’t trim the deficit shorter than 15 points.

“Would’ve liked to have seen us play better in the second half,” VanderWal said. “I’ve been hard on our guys lately. I don’t really care what the score is, how much time is left. I just want us to carry over our principles and play the game the way we’re supposed to play so we can get as good as we really want to get by the end of the season.

“It’s a good win. Probably a better first half than second half, but we’ll take the win.”

Isaly and Crawford finished with 14 points apiece for Marietta, which improved to 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Tim Kreeger added nine points while, Ellis, the team’s leader in points per game this season, only had six, but contributed five assists, five steals and four rebounds. Mason Lydic posted a team-high eight boards.

Wilmington (2-10, 0-6 OAC) got 10 points from Collmann Aaron and nine each from Jeffrey Mansfield, Bryce Bird and Todd Larkin. Noah Dado grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Marietta has another home game at 7 p.m. Wednesday when 15th-ranked Mount Union comes to town for a massive OAC showdown.

WOMEN

The Marietta College women improved to 12-1 overall and 5-1 in the OAC Saturday with a 68-46 victory over Wilmington.

Erin Hahn had another big game for the 24th-ranked Pioneers, as she produced a 19-point, 11-rebound double-double to go along with two steals and a block.

Olivia Gribble added 13 points for Marietta, which visits Mount Union at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Hannah Schill chipped in eight points, Kelley Levering grabbed six boards and Ally Grake dished out four assists.

Wilmington (6-7, 2-4 OAC) got a game-high 20 points from Kennedy Lewis. Zahrya Bailey grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.

Marietta held the Quakers to a 26.6% (17 for 64) shooting display and forced 25 turnovers.