Men's Basketball Wins Franklin Savings Tip-Off Tournament

The Heidelberg College men's basketball team topped host Mount St. Joseph's, 79-76, to earn the Franklin Savings Tip-Off Tournament Championship. The win moves the Berg to 2-0 on the young season, while Mount St. Joseph’s falls to 1-1. It is the second-straight season that the Berg has started out with two-straight victories.

Junior center Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick) was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after finishing the four-team tournament with 30 points and 14 rebounds, which included a 20 point and eight rebound outburst in the championship game. Joining Schmidt on the all-tournament team was Andrew Lemmon (Port Clinton, Ohio / Port Clinton). Lemmon led the Berg with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds in a 69-44 win over Kalamazoo on Friday night and added 16 points and four boards against Mount St. Joseph’s.

Heidelberg held a 13-9 advantage following a lay up from Lemmon with 14:28 to play in the opening stanza, but the Lions went on to outscore the Berg 31-18 to take a 40-31 lead into the locker room.

Mount St. Joseph's extended its lead to 12 points at the 17:16 mark of the second half. Heidelberg slowly chipped away at the Lions lead, outscoring Mount St. Joseph’s 27-15 over the next 11:19. A major contributor to Heidelberg chipping away at its deficit was its defensive presence. The Berg began its quest at cutting into the 12-point lead the Lions held with back-to-back defensive stops and added a stretch of defensive stops in four out of five trips down the court to help pull the Berg within four.

A Jake Hessey (Crestline, Ohio / Colonel Crawford) three-pointer at the 5:57 mark knotted the game at 63-63 and Heidelberg took over the lead that it would never relinquish on a lay up from Schmidt with 4:55 on the clock.

Heidelberg finished the game shooting .419 (13-for-31) from the field, including a .643 (18-for-28) clip in the second half. Matt Eberle (Grove City, Ohio / Central Crossing) rounded out three in double figures with 10 points off the bench. Greg Tyson (Lima, Ohio / Lima Senior) shared team-honors on the glass with Schmidt with eight boards apiece.

Heidelberg, under the guidance of fifth-year head coach Duane Sheldon, opens its 2006-07 home slate against Defiance Nov. 21. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Seiberling Gymnasium.