Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
The Pioneers finished this season 9-16 overall and 4-12 in the OAC thus missing the OAC postseason tournament. This marks the Pios second season in a row missing the tournament.
Last year Marietta went 5-13 in the OAC and 11-14 overall. This was Coach VanderWal’s final season with Marietta as he accepted a job with Trine University. Marietta elected former Heidelberg head coach Andy Bucheit as the 16th head coach in program history.
The men’s team had a hot start to the season in their non-conference matchups. Coach Bucheit got the ball rolling leading the Pios to two close victories on the road at the Ursinus Bear Bash Tip-Off Tournament. Here they defeated Misericordia University 89-81 and beat the host Ursinus College in overtime 100-97.
The Pioneers stayed undefeated in their BanJo season debut. At the Marietta Shine Tournament, they defeated LaRoche University 100-86 and in the finals, they edged California Lutheran University 83-82 to take home the shrine trophy.
Up 4-0, Marietta went on a skid as they lost three straight. Two loses came at the Great Lakes Invitational in Washington, Pennsylvania. Here they lost to Trinity University 86-81 in overtime and ex-coach Vanderwal and Trine University 86-55. They then lost their next game on the road vs Wittenberg 72-55.
Kicking off their Ohio Athletic Conference games, Marietta tipped off against Baldwin Wallace. They beat the Yellow Jackets on the road 77-61. However, they lost their next two. As in Colombus they lost to Capital 95-87 and Otterbein 74-61.
Over Christmas break the team traveled to San Antonio Texas. There they competed in the Trinity Leslie Robinson Holiday Classic. They won their first match 76-74 over Schreiner University, but they lost their second game versus the ranked University of St. Thomas 73-65.
The Pioneers started the new year 6-6 overall with a 1-2 conference record. While they were 7-3 at this point last year, the Pioneers entered with the same hope, to win the OAC Championship. However, they struggled in the new year only winning …. games.
The Pios were swept by Wilmington and Mount Union. Wilmington defeated Marietta 85-77 and 85-82. Versus the ranked Mount Union team, the Pios lost 87-72 and 92-71.
Marietta split the rest of their OAC series games as they split their games with rival Muskingum University. The Pios won game one 91-86 at home, but they lost the road game 86-74.
Marietta scored a win over Bucheit’s old school Heidelberg. They defeated them in game one 89-69. However, they lost their final home game of the season versus Heidelberg 107-86.
In January, they lost to Ohio Northern 90-82. In the rematch for the final game of the regular season, Marietta lost again this time 104-72 to finish 4-12 in the OAC and miss the OAC playoffs for the second straight year.
To keep up with Marietta College athletics visit them at https://pioneers.marietta.edu/.
