Trey Farley
tlf001@marietta.edu
You can go ahead and pull that old Queen record off the shelf and cue up “We Are the Champions” after this past week.
The Marietta College men’s basketball team clinched their second consecutive OAC regular season title when they beat Otterbein and Mount Union upset John Carroll on Feb. 17. Just for good measure, the Pioneers also defeated Ohio Northern on Saturday to finish the OAC table at 17-1, finishing the regular season 23-2 overall.
What exactly has gotten Marietta to the number one seed in the conference tournament?
It all starts with seniors Eddy Grenert and Luis Garcia. Garcia has averaged 14.2 points per game this season for the pioneers along with a season high 34 coming at Wilmington on Feb. 6. Grenert has owned the paint by averaging 6.2 rebounds per game and 10.7 points per game. Coach VanderWal also got help from sophomore point guard Dillon Young who averaged a modest 12.3 points per game from the point this year.
However, arguably the most valuable player on the Marietta team has been Junior A.J. Edwards. Edwards, who has been a walking double-double this season, averaged 17.1 points per game and 8.6 rebounds per game to lead the way in both categories for the Pioneers.
Although these individuals were the largest contributors, the Pioneers would not be where they are without the depth from the bench. The Pioneers bench has outscored their opponents bench on 16 occasions this year and have been one of the biggest reasons that the team has been able to win 23 games and win their second consecutive OAC regular season championship.
Now, with so much hanging in the balance, the Pioneers must not only continue this pattern of success, but further progress as a team if they intend to make another deep run in the NCAA tournament and potentially win a national championship.
