Defense Key In Heidelberg 68-46 Win Over Penn State-Altoona

Heidelberg College men’s basketball team defeated Penn State-Altoona 68-46 Saturday night at Seiberling Gym. The Berg improves to 7-4 on the season while the Lions fall to 2-8 overall.

Leading Heidelberg in scoring and rebounding in the contest was junior Brian Schmidt (Hinckley, Ohio / Brunswick), who recorded 13 points and nine rebounds. Junior Shawn Shriver (Bellevue, Ohio / Western Reserve) added 12 points. Senior Ron Higgins (Vermilion, Ohio / Firelands) and sophomore Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) came off the bench to contribute 12.

Dziabo Quintin led PSU-Altoona with 17 points and eight defensive rebounds.

Heidelberg jumped on the scoreboard on its first possession, but Penn State Altoona responded with six-straight points to hold a 6-2 advantage with 14:27 left in the opening stanza. The Berg responded with six points of its own capped off by a Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) three-point play and a Chad Szalay (Lorain, Ohio / Clearview) jumper to regain the lead, 7-6.

The Berg extended its lead to 11 points following two free throws from Shawn Shriver with 5:18 to play before the intermission. A Shriver jumper pushed the Berg’s lead to 13, 34-21, but the Lions’ Mike Dancer hit a trey with under a minute on the clock to cut Heidelberg’s lead to 34-24 heading into the locker room. Despite missing eight of their first nine shots, the Student Princes rebounded to hit 43.3 percent (13-30) of their shots.

In the second half, Heidelberg outscored PSU-Altoona 34-22 for the final 22-point margin. The Lions cut the Student Prince lead to seven with 13 minutes remaining in the game when Heidelberg went on a 17 -5 run to put the game away. Freshman Josh Calver started the scoring with a layup on a pass from Higgins. Higgins then added a lay-up and a pair from the charity stripe to give Heidelberg a double-digit lead for good.

For the game, the Student Princes shot 25-53 from the field (47.2 percent). The Berg out-rebounded the Lions 33-26, while the Heidelberg bench outscored PSU-Altoona 34-19.

Heidelberg returns to action Jan. 3, when they host Capital. Tip-off with the Crusaders is set for 7 p.m.