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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Led by freshman Jake Bischoff’s season-high 26 points, the Cardinals upset Marietta College, 72-62, Wednesday night in the Rike Center.
Otterbein University improves to 4-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), 7-11 on the season. The Pioneers, meanwhile, slide into a first-place tie with Capital University and fall to 13-5 overall, 9-2 in league play.
Bishoff was in rhythm the entire game, hitting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and 9-of-13 overall to lead the Cardinals.
Sophomore Colin Echelberry (11) and senior Zach Bakenhaster (10) both scored in double-digits for the Tan and Cardinal, while sophomore point guard Andy Yazrombek finished with nine points and eight assists.
Otterbein seized control early by jumping out to a 9-4 lead, forcing Marietta to use a timeout at the 15:29 mark of the first half.
The Cardinals extended their lead to double-digits, at 25-15, when junior Jason Davis buried a three-pointer with 7:00 left in the opening frame, forcing a second timeout for the vistors.
Marietta began to chip away at the Cardinal lead coming out of the timeout. The Pioneers went on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to pull within one, 25-24, with 3:51 left in the first half.
The Cardinals answered the run with one an 8-0 run of their own, extending the lead to 33-24 with 1:22 left in the half. The two teams exchanged baskets in the final minute to send Otterbein into the half up 35-27.
Otterbein came out of the halftime break on a roll, hitting three of their first four shots, including three triples, to put them up 43-30 with 17:38 left in the game.
Marietta cut the deficit to five, 53-48, on a pair of free throws with 8:24 left in the contest, but Bischoff hit three-pointers on Otterbein’s next two possessions to put Otterbein up 59-50 with 7:17 remaining in the contest.
The Pioneers narrowed the margin again to three, 63-60, on a three-pointer by senior J.J. Martin with 2:15 left on the clock. However, the Cardinals tallied nine of the game’s last 11 points, including five out of six attempts at the charity stripe, to pick up the upset win.
Otterbein defensively in the final minute limited the Pioneers to just 1-of-3 shooting and forced a turnover en route to the win.
Marietta was led by Martin's double-double effort of 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Otterbein will look to make it three in a row Saturday afternoon when they travel to Berea to take on Baldwin Wallace University. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
