Second half comeback falls short as Men's Basketball falls to Marietta
By Tim Glon
ADA — Ohio Northern rallied from an 18-point second half deficit but came up short in a 73-59 loss to Marietta on Sunday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears (3-3 overall, 0-1 Ohio Athletic Conference) got a team-high 14 points from senior Adam Scott (Wapakoneta), 12 points from sophomore Ethan Bell (Marion/River Valley) and 11 points from freshman Will Miller (Ottoville).
The Pioneers (4-2, 2-0), who were ranked No. 17 in the preseason, were led by David Sanford with 14 points.
Marietta led 45-27 at halftime, but ONU opened the second half on a 12-3 run to get within 48-39 four minutes into the period.
A three-pointer from senior Landen Long (Mason) trimmed the deficit to 55-48 with 8:55 left in the game.
Freshman Mason Studer (Galion/Colonel Crawford) nailed a three and Scott made one of two free throws and the Polar Bears were within 59-53 with 6:42 to go.
It was 62-55 when the Pioneers scored seven consecutive points to pull away at 69-55 with 1:16 remaining.
Northern made 22-of-55 field goal attempts for 40.0 percent and was 7-of-20 from three for 35.0 percent, while Marietta was 26-of-60 from the floor for 43.3 percent and hit 8-of-21 from beyond the arc for 38.1 percent.
MC out-rebounded ONU 38-36.
The Polar Bears will return to action on Wednesday with an OAC battle at Wilmington.
