Photo courtesy of Rebecca Wheeler Marietta College’s Anthony Wallace drives the lane during a college men’s basketball game against Heidelberg Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena.

Marietta College claimed its fifth straight Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season men’s basketball title with an 83-66 triumph over Heidelberg University at Ban Johnson Arena on Saturday Senior Night.

Actually, there is a three-way tie in first place with the Pioneers, No. 19 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll with a 20-5 overall record and 14-4 mark in the OAC, sharing the crown with Capital University (19-6, 14-4) and the University of Mount Union (20-5, 14-4). Wilmington College (17-7, 13-5) finished in second place.

“I have no idea who we’re playing on Tuesday (in the OAC Tournament),” said MC head coach Jon VanderWal. “I think we’re going to be the 3-seed. But we’ll figure that out here soon.”

Marietta, the three-seed, will host John Carroll University (12-13, 8-10) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the single-elimination tourney. During regular-season play, the Pioneers swept the Blue Streaks, 82-75 and 108-92.

Capital will be the top seed, and Mount Union the two-seed in the upcoming event.

Against Heidelberg (8-17, 6-12), MC had the lead for nearly 36 minutes of the contest. Jason Ellis paced the winners with 21 points, including five triples. Senior Anthony Wallace added 16 points, and Tim Kreeger netted 11 and grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Caleb Hoyng chipped in with nine markers, while Mason Lydic and senior Keith Richardson had eight and seven, respectively. Richardson became the third Pioneer on the roster this winter to reach the 1,000-point career milestone. (Kyle Dixon and Wallace each accomplished the feat earlier in the season.)

“I thought we defended really well and executed pretty well,” VanderWal said. “You’re always a little bit worried on Senior Night, because it’s going to be an emotional night. And, on top of that, Keith is trying to get his 1,000th point. And, then on top of that, we might have a chance to win the league. There’s so many emotional things going on, and you don’t know how your team’s going to respond. And our team responded phenomenally. I’m just really happy for them.

“To have three guys to get 1,000 points in one year, that’s pretty special and unheard of.”

The Andy Bucheit-coached Student Princes were led by Dylan Woods’ 13 points. Josh Dixon added 12 points, while senior Myron Prewitt, a 1,000-point career scorer, had 11 points and a game-high nine boards. Prewitt was averaging 20.2 points per game going into the contest.

Sparked by Ellis’ 12 first-half points and Wallace’s nine, Marietta staked itself to a 41-33 advantage.

“Jason came up big,” VanderWal said. “Everytime we needed a shot, he really kept them (Student Princes) at bay. He a big three after big three when we needed it.”

At the 6:54 mark of the second half, Richardson, sitting on 999 career points, drove right of the lane, hit a short jumper, was fouled and made he ensuing bonus freebie to eclipse 1,000. He now has, 1,002 career points at MC.

“It’s crazy,” Richardson said. “Honestly, coming in here, I didn’t think I would get a 1,000 points. To get it is crazy.

“I was (nervous) a little bit, just because of the people who’ve been rooting me on. I didn’t want to disappoint them or anything. I just wanted to make sure that I got it for them.”

Leading 80-59 with 2:10 left in the game, Marietta’s four seniors — Mel Shuler, Dixon, Wallace, and Richardson — we subbed off the court to a standing ovation from the crowd.

“I’m just really proud of our guys,” VanderWal said.