TIFFIN -- The Heidelberg University men's basketball team put on a dazzling display on Alumni Day, throttling Muskingum University, 102-72. The Student Princes decimated the Muskies in the first half, outscoring the visitors by 31 points.

The win bumped Heidelberg up to 11-10, 6-8 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Muskingum fell to 5-15, 2-11 in the conference.

KEY STATS

Maurice Hunter had a career-high 15 points and added eight rebounds off the bench. His 7-of-10 night came in 16 minutes of action.

Five Student Princes finished in double-figures, with DeAvery Collins (14 points), Marcquice Taylor (11 points), Chris Moxley and Myron Prewitt (10 points each) joining Hunter.

The Student Princes tallied season-high 23 assists on 40 made baskets.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Heidelberg opened on a 12-1 run over the first four-plus minutes of the contest with solid play in the paint and on the perimeter. A 3-pointer by James Hanley with 8:38 remaining gave Heidelberg a 27-11 lead -- with nine players already having scored points for HU.

The Student Princes stayed dialed in from long-range and tenacious on the block as they pushed their lead to as many as 32. The run was highlighted by a six-point sequence around the 4:00-mark. Isaac Everette converted a three-point play, then Andrew Grothouse ripped away the Muskingum inbound pass. He passed back out top to Marcquice Taylor, who stepped into, and buried, a 3-pointer. The baskets came in a stretch for HU in which they made seven straight baskets.

Heidelberg led 60-29 at half. All 11 players that saw time on the court in the first 20 minutes for HU scored points in the period. The Student Princes shot 65.8% from the floor and hit 9-of-13 (69.2%) from beyond the arc.

Muskingum never made a serious run in the second half, outscoring HU 43-42 in the period. Heidelberg was able to find minutes for many of its reserves. Michael Davis' 3-pointer with 28 seconds left pushed the Tricolor over the century mark for the second time this season.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

The 102 points is the most for Heidelberg since they scored 103 against Westminster in 2014. Heidelberg shot a season-best 54.8% from the floor.

Heidelberg out-blocked Muskingum, 9-2. Hunter and Prince Benson each had three blocked shots.

The Student Princes led wire-to-wire and led by as many as 41 points.

Muskingum shot 4-of-24 (16.7%) from 3-point land while HU was 14-of-24 (58.3%).

QUOTES

Head coach Andy Bucheit on the bounceback win: "We felt like we really executed against Baldwin Wallace, but the shots weren't falling, and I think we had the same level of execution today, but the shots were falling."

Bucheit on the defensive intensity: "We felt comfortable that if we were dialed in and focused, and we were executing things the way they needed to be executed in our presses, that we could affect Muskingum. They have good players, and they're well coached -- Joe Puch was here two years for us and I played against Travis Schwab. We were hot today and we just executed our press the way we wanted to."

Bucheit on building towards the end of the regular season: "Hopefully we can ride this wave a little bit, remember the things we did well and how we did them well, and take this into the last four games of the year."

DeAvery Collins on the importance of the win: "Today, we came out hot and were hitting shots. It was a really big relief, because we talk a lot about getting a home playoff game, and the only way "we can do that is if we finish the season strong. We have four games left, and we just have to continue this effort.

UP NEXT

Heidelberg closes the season with three of four on the road. The home stretch starts with a trip to Ohio Northern University (9-11, 6-7) on Wednesday. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.