Quakers dodge upset
at Marietta

WC to host Capital in OAC Tournament

|Box Score|

February 18, 2006

MARIETTA — Senior Josh Rohrbacher scored seven of his 11 points in overtime as Wilmington College dodged upset-minded Marietta, 84-77, Saturday. The win closes the Quakers' regular season at 12-6 in the OAC, 19-6 overall. The 19 wins tie the WC season record set in 1957-58. Marietta's season ends at 1-17 in the conference, 4-21 overall.

Wilmington, which has won five straight games, will take the No. 4 seed into the OAC tourney and host No. 5 Capital 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Fred Raizk Arena. The Crusaders have won four straight, including a 76-71 decision over regular-season champion Baldwin-Wallace Saturday.

The Quakers' Saturday was anything but normal. The team's chartered bus broke down outside Hermann Court, meaning the 9 a.m. departure for Marietta didn't happen until 1:15 p.m. Subsequently, the game time was moved from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Wilmington head coach Scott Reule said he was concerned the day's events could cause his team to have as much trouble shifting into gear as the bus had experienced.

"I told them before the game and after the game that we have faced a lot of adversity throughout the season and this was just another obstacle to overcome," Reule said. "I told them to just have some fun and play basketball."

Marietta, which lost to Wilmington by 36 points in the first round of conference play, was not in the mood to be routed on its home floor. The Pioneers took an 11-10 lead at 12:12 of the first half and did not surrender the advantage until Brett Carpenter (Marshalville/Smithville) hit a layup to move Wilmington ahead, 40-39, with 17:27 to play. The Pioneers regained the lead and stretched the margin to seven until Eric Stirling (Brooklyn. N.Y./LaSalle Academy) scored on consecutive possessions to get the Quakers back into the mix.

"We had the lead two times until 5:22 left in the second half," Reule said. "The game was very physical. There were 57 fouls called and 75 free throws shot. It kind of took us out of what we were trying to do because every time we tried to get aggressive we were getting called for little touches and reaches."

Marietta took advantage of its trips to the foul line, hitting 28 of 35 (80 percent) while WC shot 40 foul shots, but connected on just 25 (63 percent).

Wilmington took a 70-66 lead when Stirling scored at 3:06, but the Quakers committed two turnovers and missed a shot in their final three possessions as Marietta scored twice to send the game to overtime tied at 70-all.

Wilmington asserted itself in the extra session. Zach Broermann (Brookville, Ind./Franklin County) opened the period with a jumper and closed it with a pair of free throws, but in the middle Rohrbacher (Columbus/Beechcroft) took over, hitting a trey and two jumpers.

"Seniors are in the game to make big plays and be leaders on the floor," Reule said. "Josh just stepped up and made plays that seniors are supposed to make. Our other seniors did the same thing."

Stirling led the Quakers with 21 points and seven rebounds. Nick Berter (Cincinnati/Reading) scored nine, Broermann and Sam Lahmers (Malta/Morgan) added eight each and Justin Gaines (Cincinnati/Colerain) and Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East) scored seven apiece.

Wilmington and Capital split their regular-season series, with each team winning at home. Other quarterfinal games Wednesday include No. 1 seed Baldwin-Wallace home with No. 8 Mount Union, No. 2 Ohio Northern hosting No. 7 John Carroll and No. 3 Muskingum at home against No. 6 Otterbein.

The semifinals and championship game will be played Friday and Saturday, hosted by the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinals.