MARIETTA, Ohio — Top-seeded Marietta College blew a close game wide open in the second half en route to a 78-55 win over Capital University Tuesday (Feb. 24) evening in the first round of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. The Pioneers will host Baldwin Wallace University in the semifinals on Thursday.

Marietta (24-2 overall) jumped out to an early 11-5 lead less than six minutes into the game. Capital (8-18 overall) responded with a 15-2 run on the strength of a trio of three-pointers from Daniel Ocke to take its biggest lead of the game, 20-13, with 9:53 left in the first half.

Sophomore Keith Richardson single-handedly put the Pioneers back in front. Three straight buckets, including a three-pointer, from the playmaker turned a five-point deficit into a two-point lead, 27-25, with 3:40 remaining in the half. Marietta took a 34-31 lead into halftime.

The Crusaders refused to go away quietly and opened the second half with an 8-2 run to grab the lead, 39-36. Marietta freshman Dillon Young drained a three-pointer at the 13:26 mark to start a 27-7 run that gave the Pioneers an18-point lead, 65-47, with 3:46 left in the game.

Marietta would push the lead to as many as 25 points in the final minutes.

Eddy Grenert posted his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds. Richardson hit 7-of-11 shot attempts and scored 17 points, while Andy Dollman and RaNeal Ewing chipped in with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Curt Geise led the Crusaders with 11 points. Ben Danhoff scored 10 points, while Andrew Bolka pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds.

For the game, Marietta shot 46.4% (26-of-56) from the floor, 35.7% (10-of-28) from three-point range and 80.0% (16-of-20) from the line. Capital was 20-of-59 (33.9%) from the floor, 5-of-21 (23.8%) behind the arc and 10-of-15 (66.7%) at the line.

Marietta outrebounded the Crusaders 41-34. Capital committed 12 turnovers, while the Pioneers turned the ball over 13 times.

In the other first round games #2 seed John Carroll defeated #7 seed Heidelberg 75-66; #3 seed Mount Union was a 101-82 winner over #6 seed Ohio Northern; and #4 seed Baldwin Wallace posted a 71-67 win over #5 seed Wilmington.

Thursday's semifinals include Baldwin Wallace at Marietta for a 7:30 p.m. tip and Mount Union at John Carroll for an 8:00 p.m. matchup.