MARIETTA, Ohio – The Otterbein men's basketball team lost its weekday Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) matchup against the No. 10 nationally-ranked Pioneers of Marietta, 96-67 inside the Dyson Baudo Recreation Center Wednesday night.

The Cardinals (6-12, 3-8 OAC) started the game hot as they made four of their first six baskets. Otterbein took a one-point lead as sophomore Maurice Beavers made a layup with just under 14 minutes to play in the half.

Otterbein then quickly rattled off an 11-5 run that culminated in a three-pointer in the corner from sophomore Jay Joseph to give the Cardinals a five-point lead.

The Pioneers (16-2, 10-1 OAC) quickly picked up the pace, by outscoring the Cardinals 17-7 over the next six minutes with a three-pointer coming from Lukas Islay to give Marietta an eight-point lead. Both teams traded baskets until the break, as Marietta led 44-34 heading into the locker room.

The Cardinals and Pioneers would go back-and-forth with Marietta building its lead to 17 until Otterbein cut the deficit to nine, behind a three-pointer from junior Austin Springer with 15:27 left to play.

The Cardinals did their best to keep up, but the attack of the Pioneers was too much to handle, as Marietta went on a 14-2 run late in the second period. Marietta shot an impressive 51.4 percent from the field in the second half where they held Otterbein to just 35.5 percent from the floor.

Otterbein was led by Joseph with 18 points as Beavers adding 12 of his own. The Cardinals also received 10 points from both Springer and sophomore Justin Carter.

Marietta was led by Kyle Dixon who scored a team-high 17 points, with three others in double figures.

The Cardinals will regroup this weekend, facing cross-town rival Capital inside the Rike Center at 7 p.m.