MEDAILLE FALLS IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT

The Medaille College Men's Basketball team squared off this evening with #12 Marietta College in the NCAA Tournament First Round. This marked the fourth time the Mavericks made it to the NCAA Tournament and the first time in three seasons. 

Marietta jumped out to an early 16-2 lead in the opening five minutes of play and never relinquished that lead. 

The Mavericks cut the lead to single digits (18-9) on a Chris Willingham three-pointer with 13:56 remaining in the first half. The Pioneers extended their lead to fifteen points 28-13 on a Garrett Stephenson jumper just before the midway point of the first half. Medaille cut back into the Pioneers' lead, getting within seven points (32-25) on a Cooper Calzonetti layup at the 7:46 mark of the first half. The Pioneers got hot shooting the basketball and did not let Medaille get any closer in the first half. Marietta finished the half on a 31-16 run, taking a 25 point lead into the locker room (66-41).

The Pioneers started off the second half by hitting three-pointers on their first three possessions to stretch the lead to 75-43. The lead was too much for Medaille to overcome, as the Pioneers went on to win 120-81 to advance to the second round of the tournament.

"Obviously we are disappointed with the final result of this evening's game. We needed to play our best tonight and we certainly fell short of that goal," head coach Mike Blaine said following the loss. "However, we are proud that we continued to play as hard as possible and stayed together. Those qualities helped us win an AMCC Championship, which we will always remember."

The Pioneers will face off tomorrow with Wooster.  Wooster was victorious in the opening matchup of the night, beating Misericordia (84-59).

Medaille was led by seniors Cooper Calzonetti and Jammal Coleman, who scored 20 and 18 points respectively. Coleman ends his career with a program record 1740 points.

The loss drops Medaille to 19-8 on the season and closes the book on the 2014-15 season.