Men's Basketball Wins Third-Straight With 74-70 Win At Marietta

Five players reached double-figures in the scoring column to help lead the Heidelberg College mens basketball team to a 74-70 Ohio Athletic Conference victory over host Marietta College. Heidelberg has won three-straight contests and eight of its last 10 outings to improve to 10-5 overall and 6-2 in the OAC, while Marietta falls to 4-11 overall and 0-8 in league action.

The victory puts Heidelberg in sole possession of first place in the league standings at 6-2. The Berg headed into the day in a four-way tie for the top spot in the league, but setbacks by Capital, Ohio Northern and Baldwin-Wallace opened the door for the Student Princes.

Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) led the way for the Berg with 17 points off the bench. Szalay was followed by Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) (14), Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) (13), Shawn Shriver (Bellevue, Ohio / Western Reserve) (12) and Ron Higgins (Vermilion, Ohio / Firelands) (10). Higgins led the way on the glass with seven boards.

Marietta jumped out to a 29-20 lead with 7:16 to play in the opening half. Heidelberg used a 10-2 run after Marietta held a 37-27 lead with just over two minutes to go in the half to pull within a basket, 39-37 at the intermission.

Marietta opened the second half with an 11-3 run in the first six minutes to extend its lead to a game-high 12 points, 50-40, at the 14:13 mark. The Pioneers led by 12 points again, 59-47, with 9:33 remaining, before the Student Princes put together a 19-3 run of their own to steal the momentum and the lead, 66-62, with 2:26 left to go in the game.

A Pioneer three-pointer pulled Marietta within one point, 66-65, but Heidelberg's Szalay answered with a trey of his own and then hit four clutch free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the visiting Student Princes.

Heidelberg returns to action at home against nationally-ranked Baldwin-Wallace Jan. 17. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.