Tyler Hammond's shot with six seconds left lifted Marietta into the Sweet 16. Marietta athletics photo by Larry Kaye

Without fail, every edition of March Madness provides compelling comeback tales and delicious drama, and we got to witness it again last weekend – from Muhlenberg's women overcoming a 17-point halftime hole at Rochester to a collection of last-second shots keeping contenders in the national-championship conversation.

Four years before freshman Tyler Hammond's floater with six seconds left last Saturday delivered Marietta into its first Sweet 16, the Pioneers ranked as a perennial also-ran. They entered this winter with an all-time 964-1,136 record, no 20-win seasons and eight consecutive losing campaigns among their first 106 years, with only a trip to the 1975 NCAA tournament highlighting their mostly forgettable history.

Until now. Ranked 11th, Marietta (27-3) continues its improbable Final Four push Friday night against No. 1 Whitworth at Wooster.

“It's extremely exciting,” said Jon VanderWal, Marietta's fourth-year head coach. “We're really proud of what we've been able to accomplish this year. We've come an extremely long way from a team that four years ago had several last-place OAC (Ohio Athletic Conference) finishes.

“To come as far as we have is really exciting. We're look forward to playing Whitworth and seeing how we compare to No. 1.”

Late in the most glorious season Marietta has ever enjoyed, VanderWal can chuckle now about his first year as bench boss back in 2007-08 – “That first year was the longest year of my life. It was really difficult,” he said. Marietta won 12 games in the three years before he became the Pioneers' bench boss, then finished 6-19 in his first season.

So VanderWal and his staff concentrated their efforts on reshaping their program on the recruiting trail. Junior guard Joe Puch became the Pioneers' pied piper, becoming the first to cast his lot with VanderWal's reclamation project. From there, he started selling other recruits across Ohio on the merits of Marietta. Kevin Knab hesitated at first, remembering that the Pioneers' performance “wasn't too enticing.” But Puch and VanderWal continued to double-team the 6-6 forward, whose commitment ultimately helped land 6-6 wingman and OAC Player of the Year Trevor Halter.

“I'm forever indebted to our junior class because they believed in our coaching staff and believed in our vision,” VanderWal said. “They took a really big risk.”

Halter, Knab, Puch and Marietta's other three juniors learned quickly and began the program's about-face, winning 12 games as freshmen before regressing to 10 last winter. Ever the optimist, VanderWal believed this season would finally yield a Pioneers invitation to the Division III NCAA Tournament.

“When they were recruiting me, I thought it was go to be their breakthrough year,” recalled Halter, a junior who is averaging a team-high 15.4 points. “It's one of the reasons I came here. I thought they were on the rise.”

Marietta fans waited outside in the rain for tickets to the Pioneers' second-round home game.

Marietta started the season 13-0 and earned its first appearance in the D3hoops.com Top 25 before being back-to-back losses made outsiders wonder whether the Pioneers were returning their past ways. They sidestepped all doubts Jan. 15, stopping an 18-game skid against OAC rival John Carroll and continuing a season that has gripped their campus and surrounding community.

When Marietta hosted Centre and Wittenberg last weekend, VanderWal estimated the ticket line outside of the Ban Johnson Arena stretched for some 300 yards. This is standard operating procedure at Duke in Krzyzewskiville, but another historic first at VanderWalville in Marietta, Ohio.

“I always try to keep in perspective that it's Division III basketball, but these past few weeks have been like a Division I level,” said Knab, a first-team All-OAC performer averaging 15.1 points and 6.3 rebounds.

After so many seasons outside of the spotlight, Marietta is finally enjoying the spoils of March Madness. Although the Pioneers enter Friday night's game against Whitworth as an underdog, they have already overcome bigger obstacles.

“I know our guys will be up to the challenge,” VanderWal said.

Muhlenberg: Queens of the Comeback
While the Marietta men rank among the most improbable Sweet 16 success stories, the Muhlenberg women have unquestionably made the most exciting run through the first two rounds of either national bracket.

Muhlenberg had plenty to celebrate on Friday night and bounced back to do it again Saturday. Rochester athletics photo

It all started when the Mules drew upon some last-second luck in last Friday's first round, as junior Alexandra Chili's three-pointer with one tick left eliminated Williams. About 24 hours later, they found themselves trailing by 17 on 2010 Final Four participant Rochester's home floor before Chili and senior Kelly McKeon sparked a second-half uprising that resulted in a surprising 74-69 victory over the No. 13 Yellowjackets.

“After (Williams), we sort of showed up for Rochester Saturday thinking, 'There's no way we can top that.' And two hours later, we do,” Muhlenberg coach Ron Rohn said. “I think that gives the kids a sense that destiny's walking on the same side of the street as they are.”

Although Muhlenberg's two NCAA victories defied convention, so has most of its season. Consider that the Mules started 8-0 after McKeon broke her left hand during the preseason, but went 2-4 after their senior returned to run the team.

Since a Jan. 29 loss to Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg has reeled off nine consecutive triumphs through the remainder of the regular season, the Centennial Conference tournament and opening rounds of the Division III NCAA Tournament.

Not so coincidentally, the Mules got better as soon as McKeon rediscovered her pre-injury form. She insisted that “The hand feels great now” – and stamped her clean bill of health while scorching Rochester for a 18 of her game-high 26 points to power the most impressive comeback of the 2011 NCAA playoffs.

On Friday night, Muhlenberg draws another 2010 Final Four team: No. 2 Amherst on the Lord Jeffs' homecourt. Rohn watched Amherst all season on video webcasts and swore he “had a weird feeling from November on we were going to run into them somewhere along the way.”

A last-second shot and a big second-half rally later, Rohn's premonition has played itself out.

“I hope it carries over,” McKeon said. “Everyone seems pretty motivated. We have a lot more confidence in ourselves that we can play with these teams that are nationally ranked and have these winning traditions.”

The Sweet 16 Curse of St. Mary's
Before diving back into his preparation for Buffalo State, the Seahawks' Sweet 16 opponents Friday night at the University of Rochester, St. Mary's (Md.) coach Chris Harney joined “Hoopsville” before diving back into his preparation for Buffalo State.

Although St. Mary's is an old hand at Sweet 16 games, having lost in the regional semifinals two of the past three seasons, it is also well versed in long road trips that ultimately helped shape the latest incarnation of these Seahawks.

For a road game at Division I The Citadel on Dec. 6, Harney and his program bussed nine-plus hours to Charleston, S.C. – a trip that can range between 542-596 miles depending upon which route you take from St. Mary's City, Md., to get on I-95 South. This preceded a six-hour-plus sojourn to Guilford for a Jan. 3 tilt.

Sure, St. Mary's traveled a long way to suffer a pair of setbacks, but may have gained an inherent advantage heading into this weekend.

“Your whole season is learning moments. ... From those losses, I think we learned a lot about ourselves,” Harney explained. “Everything is about trying to play really well this time of year. And I think we are playing really well.”

On its home floor last weekend, the Seahawks staged a big-second half rally to tame Medgar Evers, 72-55, in the first round before employing a feisty full-court press to fluster 2010 Final Four participant Randolph-Macon squad, 68-53, to earn its fourth trip to the regionals.

This time around, Harney can call on Sweet 16-savvy seniors in floor general Alex Franz (15.4 ppg, 5.2 apg) and 6-8 center Sam Burud (14.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg), not to mention 6-8 rookie forward Christian MacAuley (8.8 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.8 bpg). Franz earned Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors and was joined by Burud on the All-CAC first team, while MacAuley collected the conference's Rookie of the Year accolade.

So what will it take for St. Mary's to turn back a Buffalo State team averaging 83.9 points per game?

“They are going to look to spread you out. They have fantastic guards – combo guys, guys who can do everything,” Harney said. “Those are the most dangerous teams. ... It's going to take a team effort. It's going to take all of our guys' efforts and focus on the game plan.”