Dec. 5, 2007
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men’s basketball teamed dropped its Ohio Athletic Conference home opener to Otterbein 71-61 Wednesday (Dec. 5) night. The loss brings Marietta’s record to 2-5, 0-2 in the OAC. Otterbein earned its first victory of the season improving to 1-5, 1-1 OAC.

Junior guard Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) led the Pioneers with a game-high 19 points, including 5-of-8 (.625) from long range. Senior center Adam Rockhold (Olmsted Falls) produced his fifth double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Jordan Cox (West Union) added nine points and three assists.

Senior Ross Banaszak, who came into tonight’s game leading the OAC in scoring at 24.5 points per game, paced four double-digit scorers for the Cardinals with 18 points. Ryan Kennedy added a double-double performance of his own, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Adam Wells also scored 12 points and Cory Ratai added ten points for Otterbein.

The first half was back and forth as both the Pioneers and Cardinals would lead by as many as four in the early minutes. Overall, there were 10 lead changes in the first 20 minutes. Otterbein went into the half leading 34-28 after Brian Pollack hit a lay-up at the buzzer. The Cardinals never looked back as they slowly pulled away in the second half. The Cardinals used some key offensive rebounds down the stretch to keep the Pioneers on the defensive side of the ball.

For the game Marietta finished 25-of-59 (.424) from the field, 8-of-15 (.533) from three, and 3-of-6 (.500) from the free throw line. Otterbein finished 30-of-63 (.476) from the field, 6-of-16 (.375) from three, and 5-of-8 (.625) from the free throw line. The Cardinals out rebounded the Pioneers 38-34 in the win.

Marietta returns to action when it plays host to Wilmington Saturday (Dec. 8) afternoon at Fenton Court. Tip-off is slated for  3 p.m.

Junior Isaiah Creasap finished 5-of-8 from long range and scored 19 points against Otterbein

Box Score