Alliance, Ohio – February 19, 2011 – The Heidelberg University men’s basketball team, under the guidance of third-year head coach Anthony Gholson, suffered a 74-67 setback to the University of Mount Union in both team's regular season finale.
With the loss, Heidelberg goes to 11-14 overall and 9-9 in conference and tabbed the fifth seed for next week’s Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament. This marks the Berg’s 50th appearance in the tournament, including its fifth-straight. It will travel to the number four seed Ohio Northern University on Tuesday (Feb. 22) at 8:00 p.m. for the quarterfinal contest. A year ago the Berg defeated the Polar Bears 63-61 in the quarterfinals in Ada, Ohio.
Mount Union ends the regular season with a record of 10-15 and seventh in the OAC with an 8-10 mark. The Raiders are the No. 7 seed in the tournament and play Tuesday (Feb. 22) at 7:30 pm at John Carroll University.
In the first half against Mount Union, The Berg was up 30-25 with 4:30 minutes left before intermission. However, the Purple Raiders would go into halftime with a 14-4 run, leading 39-34.
Down by as much as 13 points in the second half, with the score 48-35, the Heidelberg mustered up a 19-7 run to narrow Mount Union’s lead down to 55-54.
The Berg, however, could not overcome the deficit.
For the game, Heidelberg shot 52 percent (26-of-50) from the floor, while Mount Union hit 41.8 percent (23-of-55). On the glass, Heidelberg held a 33-32 advantage.
On offense, freshman Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Harvest Preparatory) led three in double figures with 19 points. Following Givner was freshman Victor Fortkamp (Saint Henry, Ohio / Saint Henry) and junior Darion Capers (Dayton, Ohio / Trotwood-Madison) with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Fortkamp's 14 marks his career-high.
On the glass, sophomore Nate Davis (Dayton, Ohio / Stivers) and Givner led the team with seven boards apiece. Also chipping in with five rebounds each were Fortkamp and Capers. Also contributing was senior Derrick Flynn with eight points.