Quick Start Leads to 'Berg Road Victory at W&J
In final preparation for the brunt of its Ohio Athletic Conference schedule, the Heidelberg College men’s basketball team traveled east to Washington, Pa. to face Washington and Jefferson College of the President’s Athletic Conference. Heidelberg jumped out of the gates to an 11-0 lead behind six points from Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) and never looked back en route to a 67-55 victory. The win extends Heidelberg’s overall record to 9-2 on the year, while the President’s fall to 3-7.
Following Heidelberg’s game opening run, W&J eventually pulled within three points, 20-17, with 9:41 to play in the half, but the Berg defense picked up the intensity, holding the Presidents scoreless for the next four minutes. A Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) three-pointer built Heidelberg’s lead back to double digits at 10 points, 27-17, during W&J’s scoring drought. The Berg went on to hold a 10-point advantage on two more occasions in the opening stanza with its last double-figure advantage coming with 1:05 on the clock. The Presidents responded with four-straight points before another Szalay three-pointer with two ticks left before the intermission.
Heidelberg held a 36-27 advantage at halftime, courtesy of 11 first half points from Szalay and eight points off the bench from Greg Tyson, Jr. (Lima, Ohio / Lima Senior).
The second half was a fury of emotion that was highlighted by scoring spurts from both sides. The latest spurt was a 16-2 run by the Berg that included four from long range to give Heidelberg a 58-43 lead with 7:35 left in the contest. A Lemmon three with 1:31 left in the game gave Heidelberg its largest lead at 17 points, 67-50, but W&J closed out the game on a 5-0 run, giving the Berg the 67-55 win.
For the game, Heidelberg shot 44.6 percent (25-for-56) from the field compared to 42.6 percent (23-for-54) by W&J. The Presidents held a 33-30 advantage on the glass. For the game, Lemmon led three in double figures with 20 points, while Szalay dropped in 15, with 12 coming from behind the arc. Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Tyson, Jr. concluded with his eight first half points and led the way on the glass with eight rebounds.
Washington and Jefferson was led by Wahab Owolabi with a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Heidelberg resumes OAC action next Wednesday when it entertains John Carroll University in a 7:30 p.m. match up in Seiberling Gymnasium on the campus of Heidelberg. The Student Princes contest with the Blue Streaks marks just the third home contest on the year and the first since Dec. 5.
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