Men’s Basketball falls 78-58 at Marietta
By Wes Mayberry
MARIETTA — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team opened the second half of its conference schedule with a 78-58 loss at Marietta on Saturday afternoon at Ban Johnson Arena.
The Polar Bears fall to 8-9 overall and 4-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference while the Pioneers improve to 10-7, 5-5.
Senior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) led ONU with 16 points to go with six rebounds.
Sophomore Blake Michael (Fremont/St. Joseph Central Catholic) tallied eight points off the bench, and senior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta) and sophomore Ethan Bell (Marion/River Valley) added seven points each for ONU.
Michael led the team in rebounds with seven.
Five Pioneers scored in double figures led by David Sanford with 18 points and Jac Alexander with 15.
Marietta opened the game with some hot 3-point shooting, making 3-of-4 shots from beyond the arc en route to a 17-9 lead with 13:35 left in the first half.
The Pioneers extended their lead to 34-17 before a 3-pointer from Bell put an end to that 17-8 run.
Marietta maintained the momentum, though, taking a 41-24 edge into halftime.
The Polar Bears opened the second half with a 6-0 run courtesy of four points from Scott and two from Bell to cut the deficit to 11.
But the Pioneers answered with a 17-8 run capped by an and-1 from Sanford for a 20-point edge, 58-38, with 11:37 remaining en route to the victory.
Ohio Northern made 21-of-61 field goals for 34.4% and was 7-of-28 from 3-point range for 25%, while Marietta made 28-of-59 field goals for 47.5% and was 8-of-22 from beyond the arc for 36.4%.
ONU was 9-of-13 from the free-throw line for 69.2%, and MC was 14-of-20 for 70%.
Marietta out-rebounded Northern by a 41-37 margin.
The Polar Bears return to action on Wednesday hosting OAC foe Wilmington at 7 p.m.