MARIETTA – Not only is the Wilmington College men's basketball team going to the Ohio Athletic Conference championship game, they are hosting it, and they had to go through an old nemesis to get there.

Senior Malcolm Heard II (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) capped the scoring by being fouled on a thunderous dunk with less than a second remaining, and the third-seeded Fightin' Quakers knocked off Marietta 91-82 in overtime of the semifinals Thursday at the Ban Johnson Arena.

It was a bit of retribution for Wilmington as the Pioneers eliminated WC in triple overtime in the OAC semifinals last season. Fifth-seeded John Carroll upset top seed Mount Union 83-81 to bring the title game to Hermann Court for the first time in school history. The Fightin' Quakers will make their third championship appearance in the last five years.

"It's unbelievable for the program and the college," Wilmington College head coach K.C. Hunt said of hosting the championship game. "The OAC championship game is a special event and I hope the students will stay an extra day for the game."

Heard's dunk was simply an explanation point on an overtime period that Wilmington led from start to finish. Junior Dwight Johnson (Dayton, OH/Dayton) drilled the two huge shots in the extra frame, hitting back-to-back three-pointers – the latter of which essentially serving as the dagger with 38 seconds remaining.

"Dwight Johnson made the two biggest shots of the season," said Hunt. "We had a lot of players make great plays tonight."

With Wilmington leading by seven after Johnson's three-pointer, which came as the shot clock was expiring, senior Klarke Ransome (Richwood, OH/North Union) hit four consecutive free throws to seal the victory.

Wilmington had a chance to win the game in regulation following a steal by junior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) gave WC possession with 30 seconds remaining in a tie ballgame.

"We made the conscious decision, with R.J. at the four, to help off their four-man," said Hunt. "He is a good player, but not necessarily a shooter. R.J. was able to play gap defense and when (Andy Dollman) spun, he was right there."

However, the Fightin' Quakers couldn't get a shot off and the extra five minutes were needed.

"We were definitely unhappy we didn't make a quicker decision (to get into a play)," said Hunt. "We told the players that is was water under the bridge. We defended and rebounded well, and were really sharp moving the ball in overtime."

The first half was nip and tuck until five different players scored during Wilmington's 13-3 run to give them the largest lead of the half. However, Marietta fought back.

The Pioneers pulled to within one with a minute remaining, but Leppert and Johnson drained three-pointers in the final 48 seconds to give WC a seven-point halftime lead. The momentum of Johnson's buzzer-beating three-pointer didn't quite carry over as Marietta stormed out of the locker room to take a lead.

"We told the guys at halftime, (Marietta) was going to make a run," said Hunt. "Marietta is a good basketball team, and fortunately, we were able to weather the storm."

Heard finished with a team-high 26 points, five rebounds and three assists and Leppert added 17 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and five assists in the victory. Johnson and Ransome each scored 13 points in the win.

Senior Taylor Wellman (Norwood, OH/Norwood) added a team-high five assists with nine points.