Marietta College’s men’s basketball team looks ready to end a string of seven straight losing seasons. “We’re excited about our season,” said third-year head coach JonVanderWal. “We think we’ve got a chance to be really good and win a lot of games.” MC was 12-14 overall, most wins since 2001-02, and 7-11 and sixth in the Ohio Athletic Conference last season. Eight conference losses were by 10 points or less. “We’re hoping to finish right up there toward the top,” VanderWal said. “We’re still young, mostly sophomores and freshmen, but we have experience and we’ve got a good freshman class.” There are a lot of good reasons for success despite the Pioneers having only two seniors and no juniors. Five of the top six scorers return, most of the rebounding power, and the only significent loss was All-OAC guard Isaiah Creasap, the three-point record-setter and a 1,000-point scorer.