MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta wasn't going to let history repeat itself.

A year after a shocking upset loss in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, the Pioneers defended their home court with an impressive 83-66 victory over Calvin Friday night.

No. 7 Marietta (25-4) faces Guilford (24-5) at 7 p.m. Saturday in the second round at Ban Johnson Arena. Single game ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens (age 62 and older) and students. All ticket purchases are cash-only transactions.

"I thought it was a tremendous effort on the part of our guys," said Marietta coach Jon VanderWal. "That was probably one of our better defensive games of the year. Going into this game we were really worried about guarding these guys."

Calvin (17-11) presented some size issues for the Pioneers, but after trailing early by five, Marietta built a 14-point lead in the first half and led by nine going into the break. The Pioneers never trailed after the 15:43 mark in the first half.

"I could sense them having faith in the game plan that was starting to evolve," VanderWal said. "We got down early and once we tied it up or took the lead, the guys could see the pressure was starting to get to them a little bit. We took them out of what they wanted to do and you could see that momentum build."

Calvin coach Kevin Vande Streek said Marietta was better than they expected.

"I'm really proud of our guys. I thought we played really hard, but Marietta is really good," he said. "You play that team 10 times maybe you get one. I knew they were really good offensively, both inside and out, but they are probably better defensively than I expected them to be."

Junior Dillon Young had a huge first half. The guard scored 19 of his game-high 21 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including five 3-point baskets.

"I had it going in the first half for sure," Young said. "They were going under ball screens and we knew that coming in, so we came in ready to shoot it."

The Pioneers also had strong efforts from sophomore Anthony Wallace (19 points) and seniors Keith Richardson (15 points) and A.J. Edwards (12 points). Senior Jack Thome also stepped up big with six points and 10 rebounds.

"I just let my defense lead into my offense," Wallace said. "I take pride on the defensive side of the ball, guarding the No. 1 guy for them and that just leads to me getting more confidence on the offensive side."

Rebounding was an area the Pioneers were focused on, but the Knights got the better end of that stat line (41-37).

"We talked about physical play, ball pressure and rebounding," VanderWal said. "We could have done a better job rebounding, but we really defended."

Michael Welch led Calvin with 12 points, while Tony Canonie and Cam Denney each finished with 11.

Both Dillon and Wallace said last year's 86-85 loss to Gwynedd Mercy was in the back of their head.

"We didn't really talk about it because we don't like to talk about it," Young said. "But I know it motivated me a lot and the other guys."

Wallace added, "Last year we were kind of in shock after the game. We really didn't believe what had just happened. When you play for coach you expect to win."

The Pioneers enter Saturday's action on a 16-game winning streak.

"We have a lot of different weapons," VanderWal said. "Tonight Dillon went off and Anthony had a great night. It could be a couple of other guys tomorrow night."