WILMINGTON, Ohio - The Wilmington College men's basketball team hosts Marietta College for an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) contest at Hermann Court on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
The Teams: Wilmington and Marietta. The Quakers enter the game 4-8 overall and looking for their first conference victory of the season after an 86-77 defeat at the hands of Capital University on Wednesday. The Pioneers stand at 9-3 and 4-1 in OAC games having most recently handled Muskingum University 96-60 on Wednesday.
The Coaches: Micah Mills enters his eighth season with the Wilmington men's basketball program with the 2022-23 campaign being his first as head coach. He helped WC to a 17-8 record during the 2018-19 season and came within a game of the program's first OAC regular season championships. Mills, a graduate of Ohio Valley University, spent three seasons as an assistant coach at fellow OAC member Otterbein University before coming to Wilmington. Jon VanderWal has led Marietta to seven OAC regular season titles in his 14 years as Marietta's head coach. The winningest coach in school history, the Pioneers made the national semifinals last year under his direction.
The Players: Wilmington is led by a pair of frontcourt players as Abdul Kanu and Obed Achirem both score in double figures. Kanu leads the way at 13.7 points per game while Achirem nearly averages a double-double with 9.3 rebounds a contest. A trio of Quakers - Bryce Bird, Collin Barker and Lucas Doty - all score over a half-dozen points per game. Four Pioneers - Lovenson Xavier, David Sanford, Sahmi Willoughby and Jac Alexander - score over nine points per game with Xavier leading the way at 11.9 points per contest while Willoughby grabs 7.8 rebounds a game while Alexander leads the team in assists with 28.
Tale of the Tape: Points per game – Wilmington 70.6, Marietta 76.9; opponents' points per game – Wilmington 80.0, Marietta 71.3; field goal percentage – Wilmington 41.9, Marietta 41.6; three-point percentage – Wilmington 33.8, Marietta 28.4; free throw percentage – Wilmington 60.9, Marietta 63.8; rebounding margin – Wilmington -3.0, Marietta +3.8; assist-to-turnover ratio – Wilmington 0.65, Marietta 1.3.
Recent History: Wilmington is 17-42 against Marietta since the 1988 season. The Pioneers have won the last eight meetings. More information on the series history can be viewed by visiting the link above.
Tickets: Digital ticketing will be used for the contest. Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of game time at the link above.
Coverage: Live statistics and live video of the game will be available – visit the links above.
Social Media: Wilmington athletics is represented on Facebook (Wilmington College Athletics), Twitter (@DubCQuakers) and Instagram (@DubCQuakers). Follow all the happenings of Wilmington College on social media by using the hashtag "#WeAreDubC".
Up Next: Wilmington heads to Muskingum for a 7 p.m. contest on Wednesday evening.
