C.J. Napier leads Men’s Basketball with 23 points in OAC Tournament quarterfinal loss at #2 Marietta
By Wes Mayberry
MARIETTA — The Ohio Northern men's basketball team fell 99-63 to No. 2 Marietta on Tuesday night in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Ban Johnson Arena.
The eighth-seeded Polar Bears' season comes to an end with an overall record of 10-15. Top-seeded Marietta improves to 23-2 and advances to Thursday's semifinals.
Junior C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) led ONU with 23 points and nine rebounds.
Junior Landen Long (Mason) added 17 points and three assists.
Jason Ellis paced the Pioneers with 22 points, and Cooper Parrott added a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Coming off a thrilling overtime win over Muskingum on Monday, the Polar Bears jumped out to an early 7-2 lead courtesy of five points from Napier and two from Long.
A tightly contested first part of the opening half saw ONU tie the score at 14-all on a 3-pointer from sophomore Carson Conley (Newark/Licking Valley) with 12:45 remaining. But Marietta responded with a triple from Jac Alexander and held the lead for the remainder of the half, taking a 43-25 edge into halftime en route to the victory.
Ohio Northern made 23-of-56 field goals for 41.1% and was 8-of-27 from 3-point range for 29.6%, while the Pioneers made 36-of-70 field goals for 51.4% and were 12-of-26 from beyond the arc for 46.2%.
The Polar Bears were 9-of-14 from the foul line for 64.3%, and MC was 15-of-17 for 88.2%.
MC out-rebounded ONU by a 39-32 margin.