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WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A valiant effort by the Otterbein men's basketball team came up just short Tuesday night in the Rike Center, as a cold shooting effort in the second half allowed visiting Marietta to work back and escape with a 66-61 victory.

The Cardinals took a five-point lead into halftime but mustered just 24 points after the break, as the Pioneers overcame a slow start to get back over .500 on the season and win the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) opener for both teams.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Cardinals opened a 9-2 lead and played in front the entire first half, later pushing the gap back to seven (19-12) after a banked-in trifecta from Brennan Rains.
   
• Marietta went on a quick 7-0 run from there to tie the game, but Otterbein countered nicely to reopen a 30-21 advantage following a shifty driving layup from Alex Hannah. The Cards would end up carrying a 37-32 lead into the break.
   
• The Pioneers jumped ahead with a 9-2 run in the second half, where Otterbein only managed five points over the first 11 minutes of action. Marietta found itself up 46-42 before a 7-0 Cardinal run pushed the home side back in front.
   
• An 8-0 run by Marietta flipped the script once more to force Otterbein back into a two-possession hole. The scrappy Cardinals remained close and only trailed by two points with under a minute remaining…
   
• However, a critical three-pointer from the top of the key by Lovensen Xavier (with 30 seconds on the clock) allowed Marietta to regain momentum and hold on down the stretch.
   

NOTABLE STATS:

• Otterbein shot 55% in the first half but just under 27% after the break. Cam Evans was 7 of 14 himself for a game-high 19, while Hannah and Dallas Patrick both added 10.
   
• Julian Heckman narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards, with Hannah chipping in to grab another eight off the glass.
   
• Marietta was led by Sahmi Willoughby's double-double of 14 points and 10 boards.
   
• The Pios were just 11 of 20 at the free-throw line, but helped offset that with 11 makes behind the arc and only committing seven turnovers from start to finish.
   
• Otterbein was 6 of 11 at the charity stripe, but missed the front end of a few one-and-one's that proved differential later on.
   

LOOKING AHEAD:

Otterbein now gears up to host cross-town rival Capital this coming Saturday evening in the nightcap of a doubleheader with the women's team. Tip is slated for roughly 7 p.m.