Jimmy Embrescia
jje001@marietta.edu
The Marietta College Pioneers men’s basketball team will play in the NCAA sweet 16 for the fourth time in program history.
The Pioneers advance after hosting the first and second rounds of tournament play. The Pioneers started off the weekend with a dominating 101-77 win over Maryville. The next night, the Pioneers again asserted their dominance over Arcadia with an 88-76 victory.
Opposing coaches noted in post-game press conferences that the noise inside the Banjo played a factor in the way the Pioneers played. Both games were played in front of a packed house that kept the gym rocking all game.
Against Maryville, the Pioneers dominated the rebounding category and bench scoring category. Kyle Matoskia scored a career-high 14 points for the Pioneers, bringing energy off of the bench.
Others to come off the bench included Keith Richardson with 11 points and Jason Ellis who scored nine.
At one point in the game, the Pioneers lead by as many as 25 points.
The Pioneer starters were equally as impressive. Lukas Isaly scored 14 points in the contest while big man Tim Kreeger scored 12. Kreeger led both teams in rebounds, tallying 12 in the game.
The following night the Pioneers faced off against Arcadia in a much closer contest in front of another packed house.
The narrative was the same though as the Pioneer bench outscored the Arcadia bench 49-28. Keith Richardson had another good night, scoring 13 points off the bench.
The Pioneers played in similar fashion to the previous night only trailing for one minute in the first half and leading by as many as 23 points.
The Pioneers will play Oswego State in the sweet 16 in Rock Island, Illinois.
For more on Marietta College Athletics, visit https://pioneers.marietta.edu/index.aspx
