ALLIANCE, Ohio – The Heidelberg University men's basketball team gave Mount Union all they could handle for 30 minutes of Saturday's game, but the home team had more left in the tank, pulling away for the 82-71 win over the Student Princes. The Berg trailed by just four at halftime and was within six with just under 10 minutes to play, but their comeback efforts fell short in the end as the Purple Raiders won their 7th straight.

KEY STATS

The Purple Raiders dominated the boards, pulling down 38 rebounds compared to just 23 for Heidelberg.

Mount Union's Jarrett Ruffin was virtually unstoppable in the post for the Purple Raiders, scoring 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting, also going 8-of-9 from the free throw line. As a team, Mount Union scored 40 points in the paint, compared to just 18 by the Berg.

Despite the final margin, the pressure defense by the Student Princes resulted in a +11 turnover margin, forcing the hosts into 17 turnovers while committing just six of their own.

FIRST HALF

The two teams went back and forth to start the game until Mount Union went on a 16-2 run to take a 28-12 edge at the 7:35 mark.

Despite falling behind big, Heidelberg rallied to end the half on a 14-2 run, started by a layup by Doug Waldmannstetter with 3:22 remaining and finished off with a pair of free throws by Kiere' Bennie with under a minute to go.

SECOND HALF

The Purple Raiders jumped right back out to a 13-point lead at the 17:17 mark, but a trey by Bennie and a layup by DeAvery Collins cut the deficit to just five with 13:42 to play.

Trailing by just six with 9:34 remaining, Heidelberg allowed Mount Union to push their lead back out to double-digits, as that lead held steady throughout the remainder of the contest. The Student Princes were unable to hit a big shot, going 0-of-4 from behind the 3-point line from that point on.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

With his 19-point performance, Bennie ranks second in scoring among freshman in the OAC, averaging 13.4 points per game.

James Hanley had a solid day offensively for the Student Princes, scoring 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including hitting four of his seven 3-point attempts.

POSTSEASON PUSH

The Student Princes have clinched a spot in the upcoming OAC tournament. The top eight teams in the conference qualify, with the top four seeds hosting opening-round games. Heidelberg currently sits tied for sixth place with Ohio Northern with two games left to play in the regular season.

UP NEXT

Heidelberg will return home for their final two games of the regular season, with their next contest scheduled to be against Capital on Wednesday, February 18th. That OAC battle is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip. When these two met earlier in the season on January 17th in Bexley, the Berg came away with a 59-51 win, which was their first triumph over the Crusaders since 2008.