MARIETTA, O.H. – The Medaille College men's basketball team played in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against the Marietta College Pioneers. The Mavericks fought to the end, but ended their season in a 91-79 loss.

The Mavs found themselves trailing quick. An early jumper, a fastbreak layup, and a quick pass up the court off of a turnover were all in favor of the Pioneers. Turnovers were becoming an issue for the Mavericks. At the first media timeout, it was 10-0. Luck was not on the Mavericks' side when they came back from the timeout. One of the Mavericks entered the game with a jersey that was not in the book, so the Pioneers were awarded a free-throw, and made it. The Mavs now trailed 11-0.

At 13:30, Kendall McGill (Largo, MD, Largo) puts the first points on the board for the Mavs, sinking a three. Marietta answered right back. Jaqwan Washington (Bryan, TX, Bryan) headed to the free-throw line at 12:46 and made them both, putting two more on the board for the Mavs. Nick Carmichael (Ontario, NY, Wayne) made a phenomenal play waiting on the jump from a Pioneer defender, to make a layup. In the next possession, Bryce Smith (College Station, TX, A&M; Consolidated) sunk one from the behind the arc, getting the ball from Washington. The Mavs trailed 21-10. They were inching closer. McGill made two more layups, making a man miss, and drawing a foul making the and-one. Rodney Graves (Woodbridge, VA, Colgan) makes a pull-up three and got fouled too. He makes the exta-point, making it 29-22 game.

The Pioneer offense was fast and was making most of their shots. Carmichael was playing incredible defense under the basket, but it would only help so much. The Mavs began fall even more behind, and started to try and make things happen on their own. Graves and Washington both drew fouls cutting the deficit to 37-24. As the first half was nearing its' end, the Pioneers had two turnovers in a row. Daunte Wilcott (Erie, PA, Mercyhurst Prep) took advantage and made a fastbreak jumper. Graves answered back with his own pull-up jumper, and then drove in for one final shot with three seconds left. He gets fouled and makes one. This would finish out the action in the first half, and the Pioneers go into the locker room leading 42-29.

The Pioneers get the half started with a second-chance layup. They were not going to slow down. Much like the first half, the Mavs continued to struggle getting rebounds. McGill scored the first points of the half for the Mavs with a step-back jumper. Graves added his first points of the game with a nice reverse layup under the basket at 16:30, making it 52-34. Forty seconds later, Smith drains a three from Washington. Then Smith does it again, another forty seconds later. He was like a sharp shooter behind the arc.

At 13:13, McGill makes a layup, grabs a steal, and finishes off the series with a three. He made the score 59-42. McGill was the offensive leader of the second half, keeping the Mavs in it. A few minutes later, Travis Sanders (Cleveland, OH, Euclid) sunk a three with a pass from under the basket, but the Pioneers answered back with their own three. They were not going to make it easy for the Mavs. After the under-12 minute media timeout, the Pioneers made a risky pass right to McGill. He was fouled on the shot, and made both free-throws. At 9:28, Jorarei Bile (Oxon Hill, MD, Oxon Hill) made a nice second-chance shot off of a well-earned offensive rebound. On the very next possession, Sanders tries for a three, but Washington grabs the rebound for his own second-chance points. The Mavs were within 14. At 7:55, Graves was fouled under the basket and makes both. Right after, Moultrie took his turn from behind the arc and made it. Smith added yet another three, this time from Graves. They still had more work to do.

On the Mavs' next possession, Washington grabbed two with the and-one. They were within 12. The Pioneers answered with a three. At 3:46 McGill fouled out. This was a big hit to the Maverick offense. The turnovers started to become a problem again after his exit. The Mavericks hit 10 team fouls, and the score really started to run away from them. At 2:03, Washington sunk one more three from Sanders. Senior Tyler Sealy (London, England, DME Academy) entered the game and immediately sunk a three. The deficit was too much, and the Pioneers take the game. This would conclude an incredible season for the Mavericks.

Game leaders for the Mavericks were Graves with 18 points going 5-15 with two threes, seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal, McGill with 17 points going 6-10 with two threes, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals, and Smith with 15 points going 5-8 all of them being threes.

The Mavericks will say goodbye to Seniors Graves, McGill, and Sealy. The next time the Mavs hit the court, they will be playing in the Empire 8 Conference.