Men's Basketball Excels off the Court
The honors continue to pile on for the 2008 Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Champion Heidelberg College men’s basketball team. Not only has the team provided a stellar season on the hardwood, but it has prevailed in the classroom as well, landing three players on the Academic All-OAC Team. Earning a spot on the first team was senior Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton), while junior Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) and sophomore Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) were named to the honorable mention list.
The three Heidelberg honorees lead all conference schools and is the most selections in a single season in men’s basketball history. The recipients are selected by the OAC faculty athletic representatives. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.25 grade point average, be a starter or key reserve and be in at least his second year of participation.
Lemmon, a forward, is just the third first team honoree for Heidelberg. He joins Josh Murphy (1997) and Lucas Messer (2004) as Academic All-OAC First Team selections. Lemmon is an accounting major and carries a 3.33 GPA. He led the team in scoring (14.8), rebounding (9.8), blocks (27), three-point shooting percentage (.430), while standing second in made three-pointes (55), steals (38) and field goal percentage (.548). For his efforts on the court, Lemmon was named to the All-OAC First Team, as well as named the Most Valuable Player of the OAC Tournament Championship Game. On the year, Lemmon scored in double figures in 21 of Heidelberg’s 29 games and picked up 14 double-doubles, with nine coming in OAC contests. Within the OAC, Lemmon ranked in the top-five in rebounding, three-point field goal percentage, offensive rebounds (3.31) and defensive rebounds (6.86). Lemmon will leave the Berg with 1,149 career points, which stands 15th all-time.
Hessey has a 3.70 GPA as a chemistry major. He was a major contributor off the bench for Heidelberg in 2007-08, reaching double figures in the scoring column in eight contests, including a career-high 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field in a win over Mount Union College Feb. 2. This year marks Hessey’s best season at the Berg as he finished averaging 6.6 points a game. He was second on the team with a .825 (33-of-40) percent clip from the free throw line and a .409 (36-of-88) percent mark from three-point range, while standing fourth on the team with 36 made three-pointers. Aside from his own scoring abilities, Hessey connected with an open teammate on 29 occasions, while pocketing 22 steals on the defensive end of the floor. Within the OAC, Hessey ranked in the top-10 in three-point field goal percentage.
Serving as Heidelberg’s starting point guard for the duration of the season, Calver studied the opponent’s defense, but also studied within the area of business administration and cumulated a 3.80 grade point average. Calver emerged into Heidelberg’s starting line up at the end of his freshman campaign and carried his role over into this season. He led the team with 97 assists on the year, while scoring 4.5 points and grabbing 2.2 rebounds a game. Calver shot .479 (45-of-94) from the field and .732 (30-of-41) from the charity stripe for the year. He led the OAC in assist to turnover ratio at 2.62, while standing fifth in assists per game at 3.34 a night.
Heidelberg, under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Duane Sheldon, concluded its season with an overall record of 23-6, which stands second on the list for wins in a season. It was just the second 20-win season in the history of the Berg. Included in its final record was a 20-5 regular season record, which ties the 1983-84 team for the best regular season mark. Against OAC foes, Heidelberg finished at 14-4, good enough for second place and the No. 2 seed in the OAC Tournament, which earned the team a quarterfinal home contest. Heidelberg went on to upset No. 1 seed Capital University on its home court to claim the team’s first OAC Tournament Title. The tournament title earned Heidelberg an automatic bid to the program’s third NCAA Championship.