TIFFIN, Ohio—The Heidelberg University men’s basketball team will play its first home game in more than two weeks Saturday, Jan. 19 when it faces Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m.
Live stats for the game will be available at http://www.heidelberg.edu/statcrew/mbb/xlive.htm.
The Berg (5-11, 3-6 OAC) is coming off of a 94-68 loss Wednesday at John Carroll University, finishing its road stretch at 1-3. Against JCU, junior second-team honorable mention All-Ohio Athletic Conference guard Nate Davis (Dayton/Stivers) notched his third double-double of the season with 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, sophomore forward Victor Fortkamp (St. Henry) matched a game-high 16 points and junior second-team All-OAC guard Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Harvest Prep) added 15 markers and matched a game-high with five assists.
Givner leads the Student Princes into Saturday’s tilt averaging 12.6 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game and is second in the OAC with 55 assists. Fortkamp tallies 11.5 ppg. and 5.1 rpg. and is fourth in the league with a 56.4 (66-of-117) field goal percentage. Davis nearly averages a double-double with 10.6 ppg. and 8.3 rpg.—good for third in the conference—is fifth with a 56.4 (66-of-117) shooting percentage and leads the circuit with 34 blocks. The Berg scores 71.0 ppg. and pulls down 38.3 rpg., second in the OAC, and shoots 44.0 percent from the field.
Wilmington (8-7, 6-3 OAC) sits in third place in OAC standings and last played on Wednesday when it defeated Thomas More (Ky.) College, 96-83, in a non-conference match-up in Wilmington. Four Quakers scored in double figures, led by Antonio Bowman with a game-high 26 points and Malcolm Heard with 21 markers. Bowman and Heard combined to shoot 16-of-21 from the field. Brandon Candella also scored 18 points and passed for a game-high eight assists.
Heard ranks sixth in the OAC in scoring (16.0 ppg.), eighth in rebounding (5.9 rpg.), leads with a 67.4 (89-of-132) shooting percentage and is third with 27 blocks. Bowman averages 13.8 ppg. and is 10th in the league in both assists (38) and steals (19). Candella tallies 9.8 ppg. and is 10th in the circuit with 5.3 rpg. The Quakers score 69.3 ppg., pull down 31.8 rpg., and shoot 45.1 percent from the field.
Heidelberg has won two of the last three meetings between the two schools, while Wilmington is 7-3 in the series’ last 10 match-ups. In the last game, a 92-66 Quaker win in Wilmington on Dec. 3, Davis led the Student Princes with 13 points and five rebounds, Fortkamp added 11 points and five rebounds of his own and junior guard Quintin Aden (Canal Winchester/Harvest Prep) tallied 10 markers as the Berg shot 50.0 percent (24-of-48) from the field. Bowman came off the bench for Wilmington to score a game-high 22 points on four-of-five shooting from long range and passed for a game-high five assists. The Quakers were 76.9 (10-of-13) percent shooting from three point range. Eight of the last 10 match-ups between the two schools have been decided by 10 points or more.
Following Saturday’s contest, Heidelberg will face Baldwin-Wallace in an OAC tilt Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Berea, Ohio.
Probable Starters: Wilmington (8-7, 6-3 OAC)
Name—GP-GS—Key Stats
Malcolm Heard I—15-11—16.0 ppg., 5.9 rpg., 67.4 FG%, 27 blk.
Brandon Candella—15-10—9.8 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 70.4 FT%, 27 ast.
R.J. Leppert—15-7—6.9 ppg., 44.6 FG%, 28 stl.
Dwight Johnson—15-7—5.0 ppg., 46.8 FG%, 47.4 3FG%, 29 ast.
Ben Vonderhaar—15-15—3.7 ppg., 42.6 FG%
Probable Starters: Heidelberg (5-11, 3-6 OAC)
Name—GP-GS—Key Stats
Dane Givner—16-16—12.6 ppg., 4.8 rpg., 55 ast., 19 stl.
Victor Fortkamp—16-16—11.5 ppg., 5.1 rpg., 58.5 FG%, 73.5 FT%
Nate Davis—16-16—10.6 ppg., 8.3 rpg., 56.4 FG%, 34 blk.
Lee Renner—8-4—6.5 ppg., 47.4 FG%, 42.9, 3FG%
Quintin Aden Jr. —16-7—5.1 ppg., 40.0 FG%, 25 ast.