MARIETTA, Ohio — The 2011 Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament got underway Tuesday (Feb 22) night across the state, and top-seeded #13 Marietta College advanced to the OAC semifinals with an 84-73 victory over eighth-seeded Wilmington College inside a packed Ban John Johnson Arena. [Box Score]

Marietta's first OAC Tournament victory since defeating Heidelberg University 78-72 in the first round of the 2003 league tournament helped it move to 23-3 on the year. The Pioneers will play host to fifth-seeded Heidelberg University at 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 24) in an OAC Tournament semifinal on Fenton Court.

Freshman guard Tyler Hammond (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) led Marietta with 20 points and a team-high five assists in his first collegiate playoff game. Junior wing Trevor Halter (Malvern/Malvern) added 19 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Junior post Kevin Knab (Lakewood/Lakewood) contributed 14 points while grabbing a game-high eight boards and dishing out four assists. Junior guard Joe Puch (Brunswick/Brunswick) came off the bench to score 11 points with six rebounds and three steals.

Tyler White led Wilmington (10-16) with 20 points on the night. Antonio Bowman scored 16 points while dishing out a game-high seven assists. Taylor Wellman added 13 points, while Malcolm Heard II chipped in with 12 points and eight boards in the loss.

Marietta jumped out to a double-digit lead, 18-7, with 11:59 to go in the first half. Wilmington chipped away at the deficit for the rest of the period and cut the lead down to two, 30-28, with 3:05 to play before intermission. Marietta, however, went on an 8-2 run to end the half and lead 38-30 at the intermission.

The Quakers kept the game tight throughout the second half. Every Marietta basket was answered right back with a Wilmington hoop. The visitors cut the lead down to three on two separate occasions in the second period. The latest was 54-51 with 9:56 to play in the game. Marietta regrouped down the stretch and extended the lead back to double digits, 76-65, with 3:06 to play. The Pioneers then calmly sank their last six free throw attempts to go on to win 84-73.

Marietta finished the game shooting 51.0% (26-of-51) from the field, 50.0% (10-of-20) from three and 84.6% (22-of-26) from the free throw line. Wilmington shot 41.5% (27-of-65) from the field, 29.2% (7-of-24) from three and 57.1% (12-of-21) from the charity stripe. Marietta held a commanding edge on the boards 42-28 and overcame 19 turnovers in the win.

Pre-sale and complementary OAC student tickets for Thursday's Semifinal Game will be available in the Ban Johnson Arena Lobby from noon-4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets can also be purchased at the gates, which will open at 6 p.m. Thursday.

OAC Tournament tickets prices are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and $2 for non-OAC students. It is a cash-only event. Only current OAC students and those with OAC Lifetime Passes will be admitted free of charge.

Live audio will be provided by WMOA-AM 1490 locally and online at http://wmoa1490.com. WCMO-TV's live video broadcast can be seen locally on Suddenlink's channel 15 and online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/marietta-college-athletics. Marietta's sports information department will also have live statistics at http://sidearmstats.com/marietta/mbball/index.htm.