MARIETTA — The Otterbein men's basketball team came away with a thrilling 77-70 double-overtime win at Marietta in Ohio Athletic Conference play on Tuesday night. The Cardinals survived a second-half rally from the Pioneers and came up with a perfectly executed play trailing by two with three seconds left in the first overtime before taking command in the second extra period to come away with the victory.

The Basics

• Records: Otterbein (5-3 overall, 2-1 OAC), Marietta (5-3 overall, 1-2 OAC)
• Venue: Ban Johnson Arena - Marietta, Ohio

Otterbein Stat Leaders

• Graduate student Cam Evans led the way with a double-double performance, tallying 26 points and 10 rebounds to go with six assists. He was 9-of-11 from the free-throw line.
• Junior Julian Heckman was 4-of-7 from 3-point range and finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and two assists.
• Sophomore Chase Garito finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two assists.
• Senior Jared Kreager posted 11 points and six rebounds.
• Senior Anthony Coppock added two points and eight rebounds.

Game Highlights

• First Half: Otterbein opened up an 8-2 lead started by a pair of free throws from Garito and capped by back-to-back 3-pointers from Heckman. A triple from senior Alex Hannah followed by a pair of free throws from Coppock put the Cardinals up 13-7 with 11:11 left, and the lead grew to 20-12 on a 3-pointer from Kreager with 5:02 remaining. The Cardinals took their first double-digit lead of the game at 29-19 on a layup from Evans with 47 seconds left, and he added two free throws with five seconds remaining to send Otterbein into halftime up 31-21. Evans and Heckman led the Cardinals in scoring at the break with 11 and six points, respectively. Otterbein limited Marietta to just 6-of-24 (25%) shooting from the floor in the first half.
• Second Half: Heckman opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer that was followed by a 2-point jumper from Garito, extending the Otterbein lead to 36-21 going into a Marietta timeout. The Pioneers made a 3-pointer out of the timeout, but the Cardinals were undeterred, growing the lead to 16, 40-24, on a hook shot from Garito with 14:31 left. Marietta cut that lead to eight, 40-32, with 7:49 left before Otterbein ended an eight-minute scoring drought with a layup from Garito with 6:32 remaining. An and-1 from Heckman put Otterbein up 45-32 with 5:26 left, and a 3-pointer from Kreager made it 48-34 with 4:38 remaining. A deep 3-pointer followed by a steal and layup got the Pioneers within six, 50-44, with 1:52 left, and a tip-in layup cut the deficit to four with 1:05 remaining. After a couple of free-throw misses on one-and-one opportunities for Otterbein, Marietta made a pair of free throws at the other end to get within two, 50-48, with 36 seconds left and added a layup after another missed Cardinal free throw to tie the score with 22 seconds remaining. After Ottrbein called a timeout with seven seconds left, a close-range jumper from Garito fell off the mark, sending the game to overtime with the score tied at 50. Marietta ended regulation on a 14-0 run over the final 3:14.
• Overtime 1: Marietta opened the extra frame with five straight points before Otterbein answered with an and-1 from Kreager. The Cardinals took their first lead of overtime, 60-59, on a layup from Evans with 1:02 left, but Marietta answered with a layup and four free throws for a 65-60 edge. After a 3-pointer from Garito, Marietta missed the second of two free throws at the other end with three seconds left, and a well-executed play from Otterbein saw Evans end up at the free-throw line after being fouled with 0.3 seconds remaining. Evans made both free throws, sending the game to a second overtime with the score tied at 65.
• Overtime 2: Evans opened the scoring in the second overtime period with a 3-pointer as part of a personal 7-0 run, and Heckman followed with a triple of his own for a 75-65 Otterbein lead with 58 seconds left. Evans scored nine points in the second overtime as the Cardinals outscored the Pioneers 12-5 in the period in the eventual 77-70 victory.
• Key Team Stats: Otterbein shot 40.6% from the field and was 9-of-28 (32.1%) from 3-point range. Marietta shot 31.1% from the field and was 7-of-24 (29.2%) from 3-point range. The Cardinals were 16-of-23 (69.6%) from the foul line, while the Pioneers were 25-of-31 (80.6%). Otterbein out-rebounded Marietta by a 52-38 margin.

Notables

• Head coach Andy Winters is in his sixth year at Otterbein and has an all-time record of 63-57 at the helm of the Cardinals.
• Otterbein has now won three of the past four meetings with Marietta. The last time these teams met in Marietta, on Feb. 7, 2024, the Cardinals came away with 90-88 win in double overtime.
• Evans' 10 rebounds on Tuesday tied his single-game career high.
• Garito's 15 points on Tuesday marked his single-game season high.
• Evans ranks 13th all-time at Otterbein in career scoring with 1,382 points. James Bradley ('89-'91) ranks 12th with 1,387 points.
• Evans has scored in double figures in six of eight games this season and is averaging a team-high 19.4 points per game.
• Heckman has scored in double figures in six games this season and is averaging 13.5 points per game.
• Evans (29-of-35) and Heckman (31-of-35) have combined to shoot 85.7% from the free-throw line this season.