TIFFIN – With head coach Andy Bucheit not present due to the birth of his second child, it was up to his assistants to take over and lead the Student Princes against Baldwin Wallace. The Student Princes put up a fight and made a run to get in the game early in the second half, but it was not enough as the Yellow Jackets left Seiberling Gymnasium with an 82-68 victory.

KEY STATS

An 18-0 run by Baldwin Wallace in the middle of the 1st half made for the separation that was seen throughout the remainder of the game.

The Yellow Jackets shot 37.5% from behind the 3-point line in the game compared to just 27.3% for the Berg.

84.2% free throw shooting in the game by Baldwin Wallace helped keep them with a comfortable lead, deterring any chance at a comeback by the home team.

FIRST HALF

The Student Princes roared ahead early, taking a 17-11 lead with 12:10 remaining after DeAvery Collins knocked down a jumper.

After a free throw by Ben Jones with 7:48 to play, the Yellow Jackets went on an 18-0 run to take a 36-20 lead.

Back-to-back layups by Chris Moxley right before the break made it just a 10-point deficit for Heidelberg entering halftime.

SECOND HALF

The Berg got off to a good start again in the second period as Jackson Blue and Kiere' Bennie scored consecutive bucket to cut the BW lead to just six with 18:43 to play.

After Marcquice Taylor drilled a trey to cut the lead to five, the Yellow Jackets went on a run again, this time an 11-2 outburst to take a 54-40 lead at the 13:46 mark.

That lead hovered until Shane Lee threw down a pair of dunks in a row, making the score 63-51 BW with 7:07 to play.

An old-fashioned 3-point play by Blue got Heidelberg within 10 with 3:18 left to go, but that would be as close as the Student Princes would get. The Yellow Jackets kept the Berg at arm's length, icing the game late with free throws for the 82-68 conference win.

QUOTES

Assistant Coach Bryan Wickliffe on Baldwin Wallace's first-half run: "A couple of their shooters got their confidence early, and when shooters get confident, it's like throwing a rock into the ocean. It was a struggle trying to cool those guys off."

Wickliffe on how the team played at the end of the first half and to begin the second: "Our energy level when we make those runs is high with our defense was flying around, causing some turnovers and getting some easy shots on offense, because our half-court was sluggish."

Wickliffe on his first game with head coaching duties: "It was a little different with other things to think about. It was out of my element a little bit, but once the game got going, I didn't think about it. I just relied on my help, Coach Puch and Coach Metry, the three-headed monster there."

Wickliffe on how the team need to play to win these types of games moving forward: "We just have to put a full 40-minute game together. Against Mount Union, there was a 6-minute span when we fell asleep and that was where they took the lead. Tonight we were on and off for spurts. We would play hard for three or four minute spurts, make some plays, but then for another two or three minutes we would be sluggish again. We just need to put a full, 40-minute game together and we'll be sitting in a pretty good position."

UP NEXT

Heidelberg will be on the road this weekend, traveling to Capital for another OAC showdown. That contest is scheduled to tip off at 2:00 p.m. in Bexley on Saturday, January 17.