Lemmon, Szalay, and Schmidt Recognized by OAC

Three members of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Champion Heidelberg College men’s basketball team have received a spot on the 2008 All-OAC team. Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) was named to the First Team, while Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) received Second Team honors and Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) was given Honorable Mention.

A senior guard, Lemmon leads the team with 14.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. He shoots a team-best .432 percent from long range, while standing second on the team in overall field goal percentage at .548 percent. His 54 made three-pointers stands second on the team. He was most recently named the OAC Tournament Most Valuable Player after recording 57 points and 23 rebounds in three games in the tournament. For the year, Lemmon has been named the OAC Player of the Week on two occasions and has picked up 13 double-doubles. On Feb. 9, 2008 Lemmon became the 27th men’s basketball player to tally 1,000 career points.

Szalay, a junior guard, currently leads the Heidelberg defense with 44 steals on the year, while contributing 14.2 points a game. From three-point range, Szalay has made a team-best 62 shots and shoot .326 percent. Leading the team at the line with a .887 percent mark, Szalay has hit 86 free throws. Szalay has started 27 of the 28 games he has appeared in on the year, averaging nearly 15 minutes a game. For the season, Szalay has reached double figures in 22 games.

A senior center, Schmidt ranks second on the team with 14.3 points and 7.7 rebounds a game, along with a .555 percent clip (166-of-299) from the field. He has started all 28 games on the year at center and became the 26th men’s basketball player at Heidelberg to record a 1,000 career points on Jan. 26, 2008. Schmidt was named the OAC Player of the Week in January and earned a spot on the OAC All-Tournament Team. For the year, he has racked up seven double-doubles.

Under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Duane Sheldon, the DIII News February Coach of the Month, Heidelberg stands at 23-5 overall heading into the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championships. The 23 wins include a 20-5 mark in the regular season, which ties for the best regular season since the inception of the program in 1903. Heidelberg is one win shy of tying the school record for wins in a season.

Heidelberg is one of just 59 teams that have made it to the NCAA Tournament. The championship game will take place March 22 in Salem, Va.

Heidelberg is making its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament, joining the 1983-84 and 1994-95 teams. Over the weekend, Heidelberg won the program’s first conference tournament title which included an automatic bid to the championship.

The Berg will face the Bishops on Friday, March 7 at Centre College in Danville, Ky. beginning at 6:00 p.m. To get more details and follow along with the championships visit www.ncaa.com and be sure to visit Heidelberg’s men’s basketball page at www.heidelberg.edu/athletics/teams/mbasketball to follow the Berg’s trek through the tournament.