Written Feb. 17, 2010 by Adam Prescott

WESTERVILLE, OHIO – Otterbein used an early second-half spurt to draw even and eventually take control over Marietta (10-14, 6-11 OAC) en route to a 78-69 victory Wednesday evening in the Rike Center.

The win moves the Cardinals to 7-17 on the season and 5-12 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

Marietta jumped out to an early 11-4 lead, and expanded the margin to 22-9 after a three-pointer from Trevor Halter at the 9:47 mark.

Otterbein slowly began to climb back, and closed to within 27-23 when sophomore Brice Rausch finished a fast-break layup with 5:17 remaining in the half.

A Rausch jumper made it a one-possession game two minutes later, and a jumper from senior Brian Pollock brought OC to within one, at 32-31, with 48 seconds to play before the break.

A chippy first half came to a conclusion with Marietta leading 36-33.

The Pioneers scored the first seven points of the second half to open a 43-33 advantage, but the Cardinals exploded on a 13-1 run over the next four-plus minutes to take their first lead of the contest, at 46-44. Senior Cory Ratai tallied the last five points of the spurt.

Otterbein kept its foot on the pedal, pushing the lead to 54-46 by the 11:42 mark.

The Cards extended the lead to double-digits a few moments later, and held off a pesky Pioneer squad down the stretch en route to the victory.

Pollock led all scorers with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Rausch scored 18.

Ratai, who played just 11 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, played every minute of the second half and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. He had registered just one bucket in the opening 20 minutes.

Sophomore center Chris Davis just missed another double-double, winding up with nine points and tying for a game-high 13 boards.

Trevor Halter scored 25 for Marietta while Kevin Knab had ten to go along with 13 caroms.

The team, which has been eliminated from postseason contention, will wrap up its season at Baldwin-Wallace on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 pm.