Marietta College outlasts Oswego State 89-81 to advance to Elite Eight
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After erasing a seven-point half time deficit to Marietta College and claiming a nine-point lead of their own in the second half, the Oswego State Lakers had to be feeling pretty good about their chances in Friday night's Division III sectional semifinal at a sold-out Ban Johnson Arena.
Much like a prize-fighter, the Pioneers withstood the best blow the Lakers had to offer before getting off of the ropes and rallying for an 89-81 victory to advance to the Elite Eight for the third time in school history.
Pioneer senior Jason Ellis led the way by tossing in 28 points as Marietta (28-2) extended their winning streak to an incredible 26 games.
"We got down nine and we showed our resiliency and our toughness," said Pioneer head coach Jon VanderWal. "We didn't get down on ourselves and we just battled back and once we got the lead obviously this place helps. It was electric in here today and that gave these guys some mojo and some juice and they made all the plays down the stretch."
The Pios got off to a bit of a rough start as they scored just four points in the game’s first six minutes before their shots began to fall.
Marietta recovered nicely from the cool beginning to shoot 64 percent in the first half but wouldn't take their first lead of the game until Tim Kreeger's sky hook gave them a 22-21 edge with seven minutes to play in the half.
After the Lakers regained the lead on a Jeremiah Sparks bucket the Pioneers went on an 8-2 run keyed by four points apiece from Ellis and fellow senior Lukas Isaly to open up a five-point lead.
That lead would stretch to as many as nine later in the half and after the Lakers rallied to cut it to four, Isaly closed out the first half with a long three-pointer to send the Pioneers to the intermission up by seven at 43-36.
It would take the Lakers no time at all to make their run at Marietta as they opened the second half on a 20-4 run to turn the seven-point deficit into a nine-point, 56-47 lead with 13 minutes to go.
"They ran a play right out of the half and hit a three on it and that kind of gave them some momentum," said VanderWal, whose team also eliminated Oswego State from the tournament four years ago. "Then they just executed really well and we were a little soft on defense."
Marietta began to regain some of the momentum as they went on a 6-0 run sparked by four points by Ellis.
The Lakers briefly halted the Pioneer momentum with a Julien Crittendon basket before Marietta scored six more unanswered points to pull back in front by a point.
Sophomore Sahmi Willoughby got things started by grabbing an offensive rebound and putting it back in for two before teaming with Kreeger on a defensive play that sent the jam-packed crowd at "The Banjo" into a frenzy.
The Lakers fed the ball inside to Christian Simmons whose first attempt was blocked by Kreeger and after picking up the loose ball his second shot attempt was swatted away again by Willoughby as the Pioneers regained possession.
Willoughby got the job done on the offensive end as well as he knocked down a short jumper and minutes later Ellis connected on a pair of free throws to push the Pioneers back in front.
Oswego State was lethal all night long from long range as they made 10 3-pointers in the game including one of five in the game by Devin Green to push them back in front but the Pioneers answered quickly with Ellis scoring on a great pass from Kreeger before returning the favor and assisting what would be an old-fashioned three-point play by Kreeger to push the lead to four.
Minutes later yet another triple by Green put the Lakers back on top before the Pioneers scored 10 unanswered points in a stretch that would prove to be the deciding one of the game.
A long three-ball by Isaly put the Pioneers in front for good and after a pair of freebies by Kreeger, senior Mason Lydic grabbed a crucial offensive rebound and put it back in to stretch the lead to six.
After yet another stop on the defensive end Kreeger converted on the other end and then assisted Willoughby's basket for what would be the only double-digit lead of the game at 78-68 with 1:48 to play.
From there the Pioneers would take care of their business at the charity stripe and Kreeger put an exclamation point on the big win with a thunderous two-handed dunk in the closing minute of the game.
Ellis did most of his damage inside of the arc as he went 10-of-18 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the free throw line.
"We executed well and I just kind of felt like the ball fell my way," said Ellis, who well exceeded his season average of 17 points per game. "I had lanes to the basket and it also helps when you have four other guys on the floor that can score like we have that they have to cover."
Kreeger added 17 points and six boards while Isaly also scored 17 after his 33-point performance last Saturday night against Rochester.
Willoughby chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds while Addy Black grabbed a team-high 10 boards as the Pioneers out-rebounded the Lakers by a healthy 41-28 margin.
Green led the way for the Lakers (27-3) with 22 points while Sparks added 19.
The win sets up a rematch for Marietta against a team the Pioneers beat way back in November in Christopher Newport, who rolled to a 93-54 win over Stockton in Friday's opening game.
"Christopher Newport is lights out and they have an unbelievable team," said VanderWal, whose team defeated the Captains 86-83 at Roanoke in their season opener. "It's kind of crazy that was our first game of the year and it was an amazing college basketball game and it felt like a final four game and now unfortunately we have got to play them to try to get to the final four. I've got a lot of confidence in these guys and I feel like we have a special group and I believe that these guys are ready for the moment."
A win would send the Pioneers to the Final Four next week in Fort Wayne, Ind., something that would be a first in school history.
"Its hard making it here and we have had a tough three rounds that we have fought our way through so tomorrow we have just got to make it happen," said Isaly. "Coach told us to kind of think about in our heads the fact that tomorrow we can do something the school has never done before and we can make tomorrow a really special day."