MARIETTA, Ohio — Watching the celebration unfold, Marietta coach Jon VanderWal took a moment to reflect on how far the men's basketball program has grown since he arrived in 2007.

Back then, Marietta was playing in front of 75 fans and the Pioneers barely scratched out six victories. VanderWal's faith in what he could build at Marietta never wavered, though.

And on Saturday night, his commitment to MC was rewarded again as the Pioneers rallied in the second half to defeat No. 4 Christopher Newport 81-79 in the NCAA Division III Sectional Final at Ban Johnson Arena. Next up is a rematch with top-ranked Randolph-Macon, who easily defeated WPI 76-53. The Yellowjackets defeated Marietta 82-74 in the Great Lakes Invitational on Nov. 20 — the last time Marietta lost a game this season.

For right now, though, Marietta is going to enjoy what it accomplished as it was a historical night for the program as the second-ranked Pioneers (29-2) earned their first trip to the Final Four. Marietta broke the school record for wins in a season with 29.

"It's obviously so much joy right now, but also a lot of relief to get this close a couple times before and not quite able to get it done," VanderWal said. "There's just a ton of emotions running through my body right now. I'm really grateful and feel blessed."

Entering the season, VanderWal knew he had a talented and experienced group that could accomplish this goal. But nothing has come easy during back-to-back weekends of hosting NCAA games.

Defeating CNU for the second time this season may have been the toughest task to date. Marietta opened the season with an 86-83 win over the Captains on a neutral site in November.

"They're a great team. I think a top three team in the country," VanderWal said. "They're the only team that beat Randolph Macon. Crazy to think we played that team the first game of the year and now our 31st game of the year. They're incredible."

Marietta, whose biggest lead of the night was five points, needed a big second half and another unbelievable performance from senior Lukas Isaly to come-from-behind and earn a spot in Fort Wayne, Indiana, next week.

Isaly, who is averaging 25.75 points a game in this year's NCAA Tournament, poured in a career-best 38 points (24 in the second half) to lift the Pioneers.

"Obviously, Marietta has a great team and a great program," said CNU coach John Krikorian. "For what Lukas Isaly was able to do, I thought we did about everything we could do, (but) he really took over the game when it was in the balance. You've got to tip your hat. That was an incredible performance."

After four years of coaching Isaly, VanderWal said there is nothing that surprises him anymore.

"We just keep repeating this. He just keeps stepping up and making these big-time plays," VanderWal said. "His performances this weekend and last weekend have been just incredible. He's a big-time player and he has a ton of guts. He's who you want to ride and that's why we brought him here."

Isaly said being a part of this moment is why he wanted to be a Pioneer.

"Once that buzzer hit it kind of hit me, not only did we make it to the Final Four, but this is my last showing here in Ban Johnson Arena. It couldn't have been more special," he said. "Credit to the coaches, the players. What a weekend this has been. Two weekends it has been here and we played in front of our home crowd and it's been huge. I'm sure we'll have a great following next week."

Isaly also tied a career-high for 3-point baskets with seven — and most of them were under duress.

"It really helps when the guys trust me and the coaches trust me. I'm sure some of the shots I throw up (VanderWal) probably freaks out a little bit," Isaly said. "I know myself after playing here for four years. I've got a pretty good handle on my game and I know what I'm capable of. … I know on the scoreboard it said 38 from me, but everybody stepped up tonight and they give me the confidence."

In the first half, though, the Captains were the confident team as they built a 15-point lead with 2:58 to play. But Marietta closed the half on a 10-2 run and trailed 37-30 at the intermission.

"(That run) gave us a chance. We were all really frustrated going into halftime. I mean the first half was a complete debacle. They took us out of everything. We were sped up and we weren't executing," VanderWal said. "I don't want to say we weren't ready for the moment, but we got off kilter. So, to be able to go into the half, playing as bad as we did, only down seven — I mean I was praying it wasn't going to be 20. It could have been 20 really easy. So, it was almost like a sigh of relief for everybody at halftime."

Marietta opened the second half on an 8-2 run to pull within one at 39-38. CNU rallied again, though, and stretched its lead back to eight points (46-38) with 15:02 to play. However, that is when Marietta imposed its will on the Captains and eventually took the lead at 49-46 on an Isaly 3-pointer with 13:01 to play.

"It's pretty much everything you could ask for," Krikorian said. "It was everything we expected. A phenomenal environment. I thought our guys were prepared and ready. I thought we competed for 40 minutes."

With 8:40 to play, Marietta grabbed its largest lead at 60-55, only to watch the Captains run off eight consecutive points to take a 63-60 lead on Jason Aigner's 3-pointer.

The game remained close the rest of the way and with 38 seconds remaining, Marietta appeared to put the game away when Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year Jason Ellis, who had been quiet most of the game, sank a wide-open 3-pointer that gave the Pioneers a 79-74 lead with 38 seconds to play.

"We put it in as a new play last week just for that moment. We haven't run it all year," VanderWal said. "Ultimately, we wanted to get Jason and Lukas up top and we figure if we can free up one of these guys out of this play, we'll play those odds. They were sticking pretty tight to (Isaly) and he was able to split between two guys and they double teamed Lukas and he kicked it out and (Ellis) was wide open. We're going to bet a lot of money that thing is going to go in. He delivered."

Marietta had opportunities to extend the lead even more, but the Pioneers missed 4 of 6 foul shots in the final 24 seconds.

After Aigner, who finished with 16 points, banked in a deep 3-pointer with 11 seconds left to play to cut the score to 79-77, Tim Kreeger made one foul shot to give the Pioneers a three-point lead.

On the next possession, though, Kreeger fouled Aigner on a 3-point attempt. The sharpshooter made his first two foul shots, but missed the final one, which sealed the win for Marietta.

Senior Mason Lydic added 11 points and eight rebounds in the win, while junior Sahmi Willoughby added 10 rebounds for the Pioneers.

Not to be overlooked, junior Brennen Crawford, played 24 minutes, scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds.

"Brennen gives us great minutes every game. He goes a little bit unsung because he does all the dirty work," VanderWal said. "The last time we played these guys he was ducking them in hard and he would get fouls called on them. Nobody really notices that, but obviously in a game like this it has a huge impact."

Sophomore Jahn Hines led CNU with 20 points, while Ian Anderson added 14 points. Freshman Ty Henderson had a strong showing with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

VanderWal said Hines was a tough assignment all night.

"He's long and he's athletic. He can make plays," he said. "He's one of those guys who is not going to take no for answer. You think you got him stopped and he's going to give you an extra move and keep going."

Isaly was also impressed with the Captains.

"What a great team," he said. "They are definitely a Final Four type team and top three in the country. But what a huge victory for us and we really made a statement."