WESTERVILLE — Otterbein defeated Marietta College by the score of 74-61 Tuesday evening in Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball action.

The loss drops Marietta to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in the OAC. Otterbein improves to 7-2 on the season and 3-0 in the conference.

The Pioneers scored the first five points of the game with a three pointer from Elijah Harden and a jumper from Jake Singleton to jump to an early lead, but Otterbein answered quickly. Five different Cardinals provided buckets over the next three minutes on the way to an 11-0 run and a six-point advantage. Harden finally responded with a much-needed pull-up jumper to stop the Otterbein run.

The Pioneers trailed by five at the 9:41 mark as Otterbein’s Julian Heckman scored on a jumper, but Marietta stayed close with clutch shots from Mason Wisniewski, Hayden Jarrett, and Deuce Blake. Behind 24-21, the Pioneers tied it back up with a trey from Singleton, giving them their first deadlock since three minutes into the game.

Marietta took back control with four minutes remaining in the half as Jaiden Guerra-Howard scored from behind the arc and followed with a mid-range jumper pushing the margin back to five. Marietta then scored the final five points of the half and led the Cardinals, 38-31, at intermission.

Marietta opened the second half with a dunk from Wisniewski and looked to build their lead further, but Otterbein answered with a 9-0 run, capped off by a layup from Heckman, and both teams were once again tied up, this time at 40-all.

After a trio of lead changes, Otterbein retook the lead as Chase Garito and Heckman scored on driving layups, putting the advantage at 47-44. Singleton’s step back jumper got Marietta within two points, but Otterbein ripped off eight straight points to take a 60-50 lead with nine minutes remaining.

The Pioneers could not put together any comebacks as Otterbein answered Marietta shot for shot. Despite a pair of big shots from Harden in the final minutes, Otterbein’s lead was too large to overcome and the Pioneers fell to the Cardinals, 74-61.

Harden led all scorers with 15 points. Guerra-Howard scored 13 points and dished out seven assists, collecting seven rebounds. Singleton finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Jarius Jones led the Cardinals with 14 points. Heckman finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing10 rebounds.

Marietta will take a pre-Christmas trip as they will travel to San Antonio, Texas to play in the Trinity University Leslie Robinson Holiday Classic. The Pioneers will battle Schreiner on Friday for a 2:30 p.m. EST tip-off. They will then play St. Thomas on the following day with a 6 p.m. EST start time.