OAC perfection: Marietta beats Mount Union for tournament title
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In what is widely regarded as one of the toughest basketball conferences in all of Division III, Marietta achieved perfection.
The second-ranked Pioneers held on to defeat No. 8 Mount Union 63-61 in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena. Marietta (25-2 overall) went a spotless 17-0 in OAC regular season play before sweeping the conference tournament, becoming the second team in OAC history to accomplish both feats in the same season. It's also the second season in a row the Pioneers won both the OAC regular season and tournament titles.
"Two win it back-to-back, and win both the regular season and the tournament, that's four in a row if you look at it that way," said Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal, the OAC Coach of the Year. "That's really special."
Mount Union had the ball, down 62-61, with 14 seconds remaining, but Marietta's Mason Lydic came up with a huge steal on a pass inside to Braedon Poole.
"It happened quick," Lydic said. "Right place, right time. I know they wanted to get it to Poole. I was right behind him and I didn't think he saw me. I just took a chance, went around him and took that ball."
Added VanderWal, "That's what Mason does. He's a playmaker. He came up big."
Lydic was fouled after the steal and hit 1 of 2 free throws to make it a two-point game with six seconds left. The senior from Cuyahoga Falls missed the OAC quarterfinal with an injury and came off the bench in the semifinal before getting back in the starting lineup Saturday.
"I have all the trust in these guys whether I start or not," Lydic said. "Confident in everybody and confident in myself to do what we do out there."
The Purple Raiders had to go the length of the court with six seconds left, and Ethan Stanislawski had to settle for a deep 3-point attempt with Lukas Isaly's hand in his face. The shot was way off the mark to give Marietta its 23rd straight win.
"What a day. What a week," Isaly said. "Unbelievable.
"Credit to Mount Union. I wouldn't be surprised if we see them again in the tournament."
A matchup that featured two of the OAC's top three scoring offenses, Saturday's contest was surprisingly low-scoring. Marietta shot just 33.9% (20 for 59) from the floor while Mount was 37.1% (23 for 62).
The halftime score was 29-all. Marietta trailed by as many as nine in the first half, but went on a 15-6 run to knot things up.
"It was a defensive game and an offensive struggle," VanderWal said. "I think you get that sometimes when you've got two really good teams playing each other for a third time. They know us really well. We know them really well. We're both taking each other out of our normal stuff that we run. Two powerhouse teams duking it out."
Jason Ellis opened the second half with a corner 3 to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game. Marietta stretched that lead to nine, 62-53, with 3:25 remaining on Lydic's 3-pointer, but the Raiders scored the next eight points to get within one.
That's when the Pioneers came up big on defense.
"It means a lot," Lydic said. "It shows what this team can do. We were a little upset last year because we didn't get the berth in the tournament because of COVID. We decided to come out and make the best of this year and make a statement that we own this league."
Isaly, the OAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, led Marietta with 19 points. Ellis, the OAC Player of the Year, added 18 points.
"Those guys are big-time playmakers," VanderWal said. "They make big-time plays. We're going to ride their backs and see how far they take us."
Lydic chipped in 11 points while Sahmi Willoughby grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. Isaly tallied eight boards.
Christian Parker led Mount Union with a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double. He also had three blocks. Poole scored 14 points for the Purple Raiders while Chris Painter added 11.
The NCAA Tournament begins Friday, and the Pioneers will find out who their first-round opponent will be on Monday.
Jordan Holland can be reached at jholland@mariettatimes.com.