Men's Basketball Tops Muskingum

The Heidelberg College men’s basketball team shot nearly 60 percent from the field in the second half, while holding visiting Muskingum College to under 40 percent to garner its sixth Ohio Athletic Conference victory on the year. The Berg topped the Muskies 83-67 to improve to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in league play, while Muskingum falls to 9-4 overall and 5-3 in the OAC. Heidelberg, under the guidance of sixth-year head coach Duane Sheldon, has won five of its last six outings.

In the second half, Heidelberg’s Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) knotted the game at 45-45 with a jumper at 16:28 and the Berg went on to outscore the visitors 21-10 to push its advantage to double digits at 66-55. Muskingum pulled within seven points, but two-straight Heidelberg baskets gave the home team the game’s momentum. Heidelberg pushed its lead to as many as 18 points following two Calver free throws and went on to post the 83-67 victory.

The first half featured an early back and forth battle that eventually saw Heidelberg pull out to an eight point lead on two separate occasions. Muskingum responded and pulled within one point, 36-35, on a Nick Hershberger layup with 3:36 to play in the half. Heidelberg’s Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) added a three-pointer and Muskingum’s Pay Byrne dropped in a layup in the opening half’s final seconds to give Heidelberg just a 38-37 advantage at the break.

For the game, Heidelberg shot 55.2 percent (32-for-58) from the field, while holding the Muskies to a 46.3 clip (25-for-54). On the glass, Heidelberg held a 35-25 advantage led by nine boards from Brian Schmidt (Hinkley, Ohio / Brunswick) and seven courtesy of Calver.

In the scoring column, Heidelberg had four players finish in double figures led by Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) with 19 points. Lemmon also added six rebounds and four blocks on the day. Szalay finished with 16 points, including 12 first-half points, while Greg Tyson, Jr. (Lima, Oho / Lima Senior) and Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) added 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Muskingum was led by Trevor Scott with 13 points off the bench, while Tyler Felt added 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Heidelberg returns to action against Baldwin-Wallace next Wednesday. Action is slated to take place beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Seiberling Gymnasium, on the campus of Heidelberg.