Balanced Scoring Leads to Win
Tiffin, Ohio – January 27, 2010 – Eleven players reached the scoring column to lead the Heidelberg University men’s basketball team to an 88-76 Ohio Athletic Conference victory over Otterbein College in Seiberling Gymnasium, on the campus of Heidelberg. The win increased Heidelberg’s overall record to 12-6 and its OAC mark to 8-3, which is tied for second in the league standings. Otterbein falls to 4-14 and 2-9.
Shiwa Giwa (Covington, Ky. / Holy Cross) came off the bench and connected on two free throws to break a 17-17 tie and gave Heidelberg the lead for good with 11:05 left in the first half. Heidelberg extended its first half advantage to double figures with two free throws by Travis Kinn (Alvada, Ohio / New Riegel) at the 5:46 mark and closed out the half up 16 points, 47-31, following a steal and score by the reigning OAC Player of the Week Jim Smalley (Middleburg Heights, Ohio / Midpark).
Heidelberg maintained its scoring in the second half and pushed its lead to as many as 20 points on six occasions. Over the final four minutes, Otterbein outscored the Berg 13-6 to cut the final margin of victory for Heidelberg to 12, 88-76.
For the second-straight game, and the sixth time this season, Heidelberg finished the contest shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field. The Berg connected on 50.0 percent (32-of-64) of its shots compared to a 41.2 percent mark (28-of-68) by Otterbein. On the glass, Heidelberg came on strong in the second half and finished with a 47-37 advantage.
In the scoring column for the Berg, Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) led the way with 17 points, to go along with six assists and six rebounds. Backing Calver was Smalley with 16 points, four assists and two steals. Kinn rounded out three in double figures with 12 points and three rebounds.
Hauling in a team-best 10 rebounds, to go along with six points and two blocks was Nate Davis (Dayton, Ohio / Stivers) and Adrian Casey Jr. (Lorain, Ohio / Admiral King) came off the bench and finished with eight points and six boards. Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Harvest Preparatory) registered six points, five assists and four rebounds, while John Miller (Millersburg, Ohio / West Holmes) and Derrick Flynn (Cleveland, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) had six apiece as well.
Giwa finished with five points and Kyle Tuley (Berea, Ohio / Berea) and Matt Grieves (Huron, Ohio / Huron) rounded out the scoring with two points each.
Leading the way for Otterbein with 17 points apiece was Cory Ratai and Nathan Edick.