Win Streak Comes to an End for Heidelberg
With a 78-68 loss to Wilmington College, the Heidelberg College men’s basketball team falls to 4-1 on the year, 0-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The team previously posted a streak of four-straight wins, the best start to a season by the program since the 1983-84 season when the Student Princes chalked up 10 in a row.
In the first half, Wilmington scored first off a jumper from Fred Harrison and Brandon Rogers sunk a three-pointer for the Quakers before hearing any answer from Heidelberg’s offense. However, Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) soon stepped up and dropped in a jumper, giving the Berg a place on the scoreboard finally.
After being down by around 10 points for a majority of the half, the Berg made a run with three minutes, scoring nine points to put them within five points going into the half. Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) made two jumpers in the closing minutes for the Berg. The score was 33-28 in favor of the Quakers as the teams headed for the locker rooms.
The second half remained a little closer than the beginning of the game, however the Berg offense still could not match the Quakers. Though they had only posted 28 points on the board in the first half, the Berg raised that number by 40 in the second. But Wilmington managed to keep its hot streak going through the break, and retained the lead for the rest of the contest. The Quakers added 45 more points to their total before the end of the half.
For the game, Szalay led the Berg with 16 points, shooting 4-5 on the day, and three steals. Matt Eberle (Grove City, Ohio / Central Crossing) had Heidelberg’s only two blocks of the day, and Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) teamed with Szalay for a combined 16 rebounds during the contest.
On Wilmington’s end of things, Rogers racked up 26 points for the Quakers, shooting 10-13, while Harrison posted six blocks. Tyler Ledford came out on top for the team with five assists and three steals.
Heidelberg returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 5 when they host Ohio Northern at home in Seiberling Gymnasium. Play begins at 7:30 p.m.