Second Half Lead Slips Away at Marietta

The Heidelberg University men’s basketball team could not hold on to a second half lead and suffered a 67-65 setback at Marietta College today in an Ohio Athletic Conference contest.
 
With the win Marietta improves to 11-10 overall and 6-8 in the OAC, while the Berg stands at 7-14 and 4-10.
 
The game featured 15 lead changes and seven ties before the final buzzer sounded. Heidelberg built the largest lead of the game by either team at seven-points, 55-48, with 11:48 left in the game following a Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) trey. Marietta battled back to knot the game at 58-58 with 8:19 left on the clock. The host Pioneers would never let its lead squander and pushed it out to six points on two occasions, with the latter, 67-61, coming with 2:37 remaining. The Berg scored four more points and held Marietta scoreless the remainder of the contest. A  Calver three at the buzzer to post the win would not fall for the Berg.
 
The game was evenly matched statistically, and in the end Marietta converted on 26-of-52 shots from the field, including five from long range, while the Berg hit 25-of-50 field goals, which also included five treys. Each team scored 10 points from the free throw line. Marietta held a slim 37-34 advantage on the glass.
 
Calver finished the game with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds to lead Heidelberg. Also scoring in double figures was Travis Kinn (Alvada, Ohio / New Riegel) and Jim Smalley (Middleburg Heights, Ohio / Midpark) with 12 points apiece, along with Derrick Flynn (Cleveland, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) with 11. Kinn hauled in a team-leading six rebounds.
 
Marietta had three in double figures led by Kevin Knab’s game-high 19 points. Conner Kilpatrick finished with a game-best nine boards.