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Pioneers down Ohio Northern, 100-85

Marietta College’s Dillon Young attempts to shoot against an Ohio Northern player during a college basketball game Saturday. Photo by Tom Perry.

Jack Thome felt right at home.

The 6-foot-6 senior post player scored a career-high 25 points as nationally ninth-ranked Marietta College downed Ohio Northern University, 100-85, to claim its third consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season men’s basketball championship outright at sold-out Ban Johnson Arena Saturday.

“It felt good to be out there with my team,” said Thome, who also had a career-high three triples and equaled his career-high in rebounds with eight. “In my four years here, this is kind of a remembrance of everything I did. It’s been a great experience.

“And, it was the crowd today that gave us the support and all the energy.”

Thome was injured when the Pioneers (21-4 overall, 16-2 OAC) dropped a 101-91 decision to the Polar Bears (16-9, 14-4) in Ada on Jan. 7. RaNeal Ewing, an All-OAC honoree, was also not available for that contest.

“It feels good to come back and get the win with my team,” Thome said. “That game (in Ada) broke my heart, not being able to help them out.”

Said 10th-year Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal, “Oh, my goodness, Jack had the game of his life and at a time that we needed it.”

MC’s Dillon Young and Anthony Wallace each added 18 points, while Keith Richardson and Ewing had 14 and 12, respectively.

“Our kids were dialed in today,” said VanderWal, whose Pioneers cracked the century mark in points for the sixth time this winter. “There was no way in heck that we were not going to win this game.

“We had zero turnovers at halftime. That tells you how dialed into the game we were. We wanted this game really bad.”

With the victory, the Pioneers — who have now won 37 straight regular season games at the BanJo — earned the OAC Tourney top seed and will host Heidelberg University Tuesday at 8 p.m.

During regular season play, MC beat the Student Princes twice.

Ohio Northern was paced by Joey DiOrio’s 21 points. Ryan Bruns added a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds (and five blocked shots). Nate Burger chipped in with 14 markers, while Aron Thress and Devon Allen had 12 and 10, respectively.

“Marietta played well,” said first-year ONU boss Rich Bensman. “They shot it well (57.7 percent). They do a nice job of everything. They’re just a well-coached team.

“We had 18 turnovers and they had six. We have to value the ball a little bit better than that.”

The first half featured 10 lead changes and two ties. Sparked by Young’s 13 points and Thome’s 10, Marietta staked itself to a 52-41 advantage, going into the lockerroom. Just before the intermission, a hustling Richardson stole an ONU inbounded, rolling ball, and scored a layup to give the Pioneers an 11-point cushion.

Keeping the Polar Bears relatively close, the 6-8 Bruns scored eight points and blocked five shots.

After the break, Ohio Northern never got closer than eight points to Marietta as the Pioneer lead slowly but surely bulged. At the 9:54 mark, Richardson’s bucket gave the home team an 85-64 lead.

With time winding down, Marietta reached the 100-point mark on Ewing’s breakaway dunk.

“We kind of pulled away in the second half,” VanderWal said. “I thought RaNeal made some nice plays and obviously Jack came up huge.”

NOTES: Senior All-American A.J.Edwards had a 24-game double-digit figures streak halted against ONU. The 6-5 post finished with six points…Honored and recognized before the game were senior MC cagers’ Tyler Irish, Nate Walker, Ewing, Thome, and Edwards…The Pioneers became the third school to win three straight OAC regular-season titles outright. Wittenburg (1959-61) and Otterbein (1990-92) were the other two.

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