Muskingum stunned second-seeded John Carroll on a miraculous three-pointer as time expired to punch the Muskies' ticket to the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals. With the win, Muskingum advanced to play at six-seed Baldwin Wallace on Thursday, February 23 at 8:00 p.m.
The Muskingum upset was nothing short of spectacular as the fate of the season laid in the hands of freshman Marcus Dempsey who delivered the game-winning three-point shot as time expired.
With the win, the Muskies return to the OAC Tournament Final Four for the first time since the 2008-09 season when Muskingum finished 14-13 overall.
Muskingum and Baldwin Wallace split the regular season series with the Muskies topping the Yellow Jackets in overtime at the Anne C. Steele Center, 98-95. However, Baldwin Wallace got revenge at home as the Yellow Jackets used extra time to capture the 89-83 victory.
Entering Thursday's match-up, senior Joshua Keyes leads the conference in rebounds (11.3 rpg), while sophomore Jarrell Marsh ranks fourth in the league in scoring (17.7 ppg) and Dempsey ranks fifth (16.5 ppg).
As a team, Muskingum is averaging 82.2 points per game and shooting .469 from the floor, which includes hitting .361 from behind the arc.
The Yellow Jackets birth in the Semifinals went through three-seeded Ohio Northern. Baldwin Wallace found themselves trailing late but a putback layup by Jake Fetherolf with nine seconds remaining propelled the Yellow Jackets to the slim 72-71 victory.
Baldwin Wallace is led this season by Cam Kuhn averaging 15.2 ppg, while Fetherolf ranks second in the conference in rebounds averaging 9.2 rpg. Zack Brandy leads the Yellow Jackets from behind the arc, ranking second in the conference at .485.
Baldwin Wallace is averaging 77.8 points per game, shooting .428 from the floor and averaging 36.3 rebounds per game.
With a win on Thursday, Muskingum would advance to the OAC Championship game for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Muskies would play the winner of top-seed Marietta and four-seed Mount Union on Saturday, February 25.