MARIETTA, Ohio – No. 21 ranked Marietta College held off Wilmington College for an 83-78 win Tuesday (Feb. 25) evening in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's basketball Tournament.

With the win, Marietta improves to 21-5 on the season and will host John Carroll in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m. The Blue Streaks were 84-54 winners over Capital in the first round. Wilmington finishes its season with a 10-16 overall record.

"That was a battle and we knew it would be," Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. "We won the rebounding battle by 18 and that should be a blow-out victory, but our 21 turnovers pretty much negated that and allowed Wilmington to stick around."

The game was tight early on and Marietta led 11-9 at the 15:35 minute mark of the half. The Pioneers went on a quick 5-0 run with a tip in layup from Caleb Hoyng and a transition three from Jason Ellis to hold a 16-9 edge forcing a Wilmington timeout a minute later.

Out of the break, the Quakers scored six straight cutting the lead to 16-15. The run was halted by a layup from Kyle Matoszkia, with just under 12 minutes to play in the half. Mason Lydic was able to help put Marietta on top 32-26 with 4:57 minutes to play in the half. Lydic scored eight points for the Pioneers in a two-minute span.

Wilmington was able to stay close over the final five minutes of the first half. Jake Montgomery put Marietta on top 44-38 at the intermission with a last second three-pointer.

The Quakers battled to open the second half and trimmed the Pioneer lead to 48-46 at the 17:27 minute mark of the period. Marietta answered with six quick points behind a three from Hoyng and an old fashioned three-point play by Christian James.

Wilmington once again cut the Marietta lead to 54-53 behind a 7-0 run. The spurt forced a Pioneer timeout with just over 14 minutes to play in the game.

Out of the timeout, the teams swapped baskets and Marietta maintained a 64-58 edge with nine minutes to play in the game. The Quakers fought all the way back and tied the game at 66 points apiece on a bucket in the paint from Abdul Kanu, with just under seven minutes to play in the game.

Wilmington would not go away and trailed 78-76 with just over a minute to play in the game. The Pioneers put the game away at the foul line behind three foul shots from Ellis. Marietta won 81-76.

The Pioneers were led by Ellis as he had 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting from behind the arc and pulled down six rebounds. Tim Kreeger pitched in with 15 points and tied for a game high in rebounds with nine. Lydic provided a spark off the bench with 13 points.

Jeffrey Mansfield led Wilmington with 28 points. Kanu added 17 points and seven rebounds, while Matt Smith chipped in with 15 points.