Heidelberg Tops B-W; Headed to OAC Championship Game
Nothing was being taken for grated as the Heidelberg College men’s basketball stepped on the court for an Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game tonight against Baldwin-Wallace College in the Capital Center, on the campus of Capital University. Heidelberg, seeded at No. 2, faced a No. 6 seeded Yellow Jacket team that earned a spot in the semifinals with an upset of the No. 3 seed on Wednesday. In the regular season, Heidelberg and B-W split its series, with each winning in their home venue; a neutral court presented a fair opportunity for both teams to earn a trip to the OAC Championship. What was presented as a neutral setting quickly turned into a home away from home for the Berg has the purple bleachers were donned with Heidelberg orange to cheer the Berg to a 99-80 victory.
The victory was the seventh-straight for the Berg and earned the team a spot in the conference championship for the sixth time in the history of the program, but just the first appearance since 1995. That elusive conference title has eluded the Berg in every trip. Heidelberg will face the winner of No. 1 Capital and No. 3 Ohio Northern University at Capital tomorrow beginning at 7:30 p.m. The winner of the championship game will earn an automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division III Championship.
Heidelberg, under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Duane Sheldon, continues to add to its record-setting win total. It stands at 22-5 after the win, which ranks second all-time for wins in a season. Baldwin-Wallace concludes the season at 12-15.
The senior trio of guard Shawn Shriver (Bellevue, Ohio / Western Reserve), forward Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) and center Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) / combined to score 60 points and grab 30 rebounds tonight. Schmidt led the Student Princes with 21 points and 12 rebounds, Lemmon had 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Shriver added 19 points and seven.
In the first half, the Student Princes raced out to an early 10-4 lead at the 17:24 mark when Schmidt made a lay up. Heidelberg built its lead to 17 points on two separate occasions with the last being at 29-12 with 6:21 left when Schmidt made a jump shot. The Yellow Jackets went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to nine points on two separate occasions with the last being at 29-20 with 3:06. Heidelberg responded with a 10-2 run to regain its 17-point advantage at 39-22 with 1:35 left when Shriver made a three-pointer. The Student Princes led at halftime, 43-28.
In the second half, Heidelberg built its lead to 18 points at 48-30 with 18:54 left when Schmidt made a jumper. B-W then went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 11 points at 48-37 with 17:05 left when Louis Tumblin canned two foul shots. Undaunted the Student Princes went on a 9-0 run of their own and led by 19 points at 56-37 with 15:26 when Lemmon made a three-pointer. The largest lead for Heidelberg was 27 points at the 95-68 mark when with 4:04 left when sophomore forward Travis Kinn (Alvada, Ohio / New Riegel) scored on a lay up.
In addition to the senior trio for Heidelberg, junior guard Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) had 11 points and senior guard Greg Tyson Jr. (Lima, Ohio / Lima Senior) had 10.
B-W was led by senior guard Tyler Sekerak with 16 points and Tumblin had 15.