Heidelberg Rallies To Defeat John Carroll 84-80

In the battle of two teams with identical records of 8-5  overall and 4-2 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, the Heidelberg College men’s basketball team held on for an 84-80 over visiting John Carroll University.

Junior Shawn Shriver (Bellevue, Ohio / Western Reserve) led the Berg in scoring with 19 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Sophomore Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) went 8-8 from the charity stripe and scored 16 points. Senior Ron Higgins (Vermilion, Ohio / Firelands) pulled down a team-high seven boards and added 15 points. Junior Brian Scmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) contributed 10 points.

Terry Walsh (27 points, 14 rebounds) and Brandon Mimes (20 points, 13 rebounds) both tallied double-doubles to lead John Carroll.

Both teams played close in the opening minutes as the score stood tied at 16 with 11:12 remaining in the first half when Higgins jumpstarted a 14-3 run with back-to-back lay-ups. Shriver contributed two three-pointers in a row to give the Berg a 30-19 lead with 5:33 remaining in the half. The Blue Streaks cut the Berg lead down to seven, but a 9-2 spurt at the end of the half gave Heidelberg a 46-29 lead heading into the lockerroom.

Heidelberg junior Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton) pushed the advantage to 20 with a three-pointer to begin the final half. However, the Berg did not score in more than five minutes and John Carroll tied the score at 58 on a dunk by Brandon Mimes with 10:20 left.

John Carroll led by as much as five, but the Student Princes would not give in. Down five, junior Greg Tyson (Lima, Ohio / Senior) drove the lane and made the basket while being fouled. Tyson missed the free-throw, but Higgins grabbed the rebound and made the lay-up to cut the deficit to one. Heidelberg took the lead for good, 75-71, on a jumper by Brian Schmidt and a three-pointer in the corner by freshman Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby). The Student Princes closed out the game by going a perfect 6-6 from the line.

For the contest, Heidelberg made 30-63 from the field (47.6 percent) compared to 31-66 (40 percent) for John Carroll. The Student Princes connected on 15-19 (78.9 percent) from the charity stripe, while the Blue Streaks made 16-23 (69.6 percent).

Heidelberg returns to action Saturday when they travel to Marietta. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.