43
Motivated Dillon leads Mount past Marietta
Photo
Mount Union’s Nate Jacubec, a Struthers graduate, drives through Marietta defenders Brennan McKean (22) and Andy Stegman (33) during a game Wednesday at Mount Union in Alliance. The Purple Raiders edged the Pioneers, 73-72.
Motivated Dillon leads Mount past Marietta
By Steve Wilaj
ALLIANCE
Not that Mount Union’s leading scorer Cody Dillon needed the extra motivation, but when he heard some of the Marietta players’ choice words throughout the first half, he took notice.
“They were just bickering, saying stuff that shouldn’t have been said,” Dillon said. “It gets me going every time. It fuels my fire for sure.”
Which was bad news for the Pioneers.
The Newton Falls product came out of the break on a mission, pouring in 10 second-half points — including seven in the final 3:46 — to help the Purple Raiders to a 73-72 win against Marietta on Wednesday at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex in Alliance.
“Cody’s the definition of a gamer,” said Mike Fuline, Mount Union head coach. “The bigger the game, the bigger the stage, the better he plays.”
TJ Gillespie, who finished with a game-high 21 points, connected on the game-winning free throw with 0.8 seconds remaining after being fouled on a drive to the basket. It came after Marietta’s Garrett Stephenson hit a game-tying 3-pointer with just 11 seconds remaining.
“They’re always gonna make plays — they have winning in their blood,” Fuline said. “But we just found a way to survive. What a great atmosphere. I’m so happy people came out and supported this team, because they deserve it.”
The crowd of 2,354 packed the Alliance gymnasium, which erupted when Dillon drained a cold-blooded 3-pointer to put Mount Union (11-2, 6-0 Ohio Athletic Conference) ahead, 70-67, with 49.7 seconds remaining.
The sophomore, who finished with 15 points, then had his own choice words for Marietta (10-4, 5-2) before making two free throws 20 seconds later.
“Coach called my number at the end to hit that 3 and I knew once I shot it that it was going to go in,” Dillon said. “Then those free throws were huge. You just gotta have faith that every shot you take, you’re going to make.”
Teammate Nate Jacubec of Struthers wasn’t surprised by Dillon’s verbal battle.
“Cody’s a bit of a hot head — he’ll jaw back and forth,” he said. “But that fuels everyone I think. It fuels me. I like it and it gets us going.”
Jacubec came into the game averaging 10.3 points per game, but struggled to get into a rhythm while falling into foul trouble. He was held scoreless, but still grabbed five rebounds and had three assists.
“My teammates picked me up,” Jacubec said. “A win’s a win and I’ll back my guys up and do whatever. We’re like a family.”
Fuline credited the junior guard’s defensive play, noting that the Pioneers focused on shutting him down.
“Nate’s the best defender on the floor usually, guards their best guy,” Fuline. “Even though he didn’t score for whatever reason, he was still so valuable to us.”
The victory for the Purple Raiders avenged last year’s season-ending loss to Marietta, which was paced by Andy Dollman’s 16 points.
“This is the biggest win I’ve had probably since I’ve been at Mount,” Jacubec said. “Just because of last year — they beat us and we saw them celebrate. So we really wanted to get this one.”