Career Day in Men's Basketball Win Over Mount Union

Junior guard Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) and senior center Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) had career outings to lead the Heidelberg College men’s basketball team to a 68-50 victory over visiting Mount Union College. Hessey tallied a career-high 16 points off the bench, while Schmidt grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds to go along with 21 points for a double-double.

The win improves Heidelberg to 15-4 overall and 9-3 in the OAC, while the Purple Raiders fall to 6-13 overall and 3-9 in league action.

Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) found a streaking Greg Tyson Jr. (Lima, Ohio / Lima Senior) for a dunk with less than five minutes to play in the opening half to begin a resurgence by the Berg. Heidelberg opened the game trailing by as many as 13 points at one time and Tyson’s dunk followed a lay up that began a 9-0 Heidelberg run to tie the game at 24-24 with 2:51 to play in the half. The two teams traded baskets over the final minutes of the period, with Schmidt recording a put back as time expired to give Heidelberg a 30-28 lead at the intermission.

Heidelberg opened its second half scoring with another Tyson dunk courtesy of a Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) pass and never looked back. A Hessey three-pointer with 8:17 left in the game put Heidelberg up by double digits for the first time in the contest. The Berg extended its lead to as many as 21 points before the final buzzer sounded.

Joining Hessey and Schmidt in double figures was Tyson with 11 points, while Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) added seven points and six rebounds. Calver finished the day with a team-high five assists.

Leading the way for Mount Union was Chris Crawford with 11 points, while Chris Switzer and Dan Pellerite followed with 10 apiece. On the glass, Mike Fatigante pulled down 10 rebounds.

Heidelberg returns to action Feb. 6 at Baldwin-Wallace College. Tip-off with the Yellow Jackets is slated for 7:30 p.m.