Ohio Northern tops Marietta in OAC men's basketball opener
Pioneers visit Wilmington Saturday at 3 p.m.

Dec. 6, 2008
MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College men’s basketball team dropped its Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener to visiting Ohio Northern University, 75-49, on Saturday (Dec. 6) afternoon at Ban Johnson Arena. The Polar Bears improved to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the OAC, while the Pioneers fell to 3-3, 0-1 in league play.

The Polar Bears led wire-to-wire on Saturday. Ohio Northern held a 42-26 advantage at the half and stretched the lead to as many as 27 points before leaving Fenton Court with a 74-49 win.

Marietta finished the game 16-of-56 (.286) from the floor, including 6-of-23 (.258) from three-point range. The Pioneers added 11-of-19 (.579) from the free throw line. Ohio Northern shot 27-of-62 (.435) from the field, hit 4-of-17 (.235) from long range and connected on 16-of-23 (.696) from the charity stripe. The Polar Bears dominated the boards, out rebounding the Pioneers 50-35. They also out scored them 44-14 in the paint. Marietta turned the ball over 14 times, leading to 14 points. The Pioneers forced 10 turnovers and converted them to four points.

Freshman wing Rydell Chrisman (Coshocton) paced Marietta with a career-best 12 points, hitting four 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Classmate Trevor Halter (Malvern) added 10 points and four rebounds. Senior guard Isaiah Creasap (Wooster/Northwestern) finished with eight points and four assists. He is now 36 points shy of 1,000 in his career. Freshman Connor Kilpatrick (Bowling Green) took advantage of his longest action of the year by pulling down a career-high 12 rebounds in 28 minutes off the bench.

Four of Ohio Northern’s starters reached double figures. Jake Cannan led the way with 18 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Meyer had 14 points and nine boards, while Kurtis Brown contributed 13 points and six rebounds. Sam Bastian also added 10 points and five boards in the win.

Marietta is back in action on Saturday (Dec. 13) afternoon when the Pioneers visit Wilmington College for a tip-off with the Quakers at 3 p.m.

Freshman Rydell Chrisman had a career-high 12 points against Ohio Northern on Saturday.

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