BEXLEY -- After squandering opportunities to win in regulation and overtime, the Heidelberg University men's basketball team finally sealed a big conference win in double overtime at Capital University.  A late 3-pointer by Emmanuel Perdue gave The Berg a much-needed lift in the 96-91 victory on the road.  

Heidelberg (7-9, 5-4 OAC) was led in the scoring column by four players who reach double figures. Emmanuel Perdue led all players with 26 points, while Tamal Watkins was not far behind with 21. Alex Arellano contributed 17, and Dylan Woods added 16. Watkins and Seth Hohman were the team's leading rebounders with six each. Arellano also dished out a team-high four assists. 

The Student Princes shook off an early missed bucket by Tamal Watkins and rattled off five consecutive 3-pointers to establish a quick 15-6 lead. Alex Arellano started a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while Dylan Woods and Watkins added successful long balls as well. 

The early hot shooting tapered slightly, but the Student Princes still managed to build on their lead and keep the Crusaders (8-8, 4-5) at bay. Watkins added four more points before Emmanuel Perdue knocked down a jumper to push the lead to 21-12. From there though, Heidelberg cooled off as the half wore on. 

The Crusaders finished the period on a 24-16 run, enabling them to close the gap to just 37-36 at the half. After starting the game shooting 100% from three, the Student Princes closed the final 15 minutes shooting just 3-of-8 from deep. 

Capital's pressure kept up at the start of the second half. This time, the Student Princes stayed close, answering nearly every bucket to stay within striking distance of re-capturing the lead. 

With 14:42 left on the clock in the second half, Heidelberg found themselves trailing by seven after a pair of free throws from Ganiyu Yahaya. The deficit kicked off a brief exchange of points from both teams, before HU embarked on a run. 

From the Yahaya free throws, Heidelberg outscored Capital 12-6 to get back within one point. Six points from Perdue helped contribute to the comeback efforts. 

Down by one and coming out of a timeout, the Student Princes took back the lead for the first time in the second half on consecutive buckets from Alex Arellano. 

With the lead back in their possession, the Student Princes buckled down defensively and began to protect what had become a five-point lead with 5:48 remaining. Arellano collected a steal and a block on back-to-back defensive efforts. 

After the good spurts of good defense, Capital chipped away at the lead. Eventually, the Crusaders converted a layup off the hands of Yahaya with 21 seconds left to tie the game at 72 each. Each team then spurned a chance to win the game in regulation, sending the game to overtime. 

In the first OT period, both teams registered 13 points and made for an interesting final 11 seconds. After Perdue re-tied the game with a pair of free throws, both teams turned the ball over, including twice by the Crusaders to send the game to another period of overtime. 

With 3:09 left in the second OT period, Perdue swiped a pass and took the ball the length of the floor for an easy layup to put The Berg ahead by one. After a few empty possessions were exchanged, the Student Princes went further ahead after a jumper from Dylan Woods and a 3-pointer from Perdue built out a four-point lead. 

A pair of free throws off the hands of Dylan Woods sealed the 96-91 win for the Student Princes after an exhausting effort on both ends of the floor. 

In the game, both teams converted 33 field goals, but the Student Princes knocked down 12 3-pointers in the game and converted 18 free throws to create the difference. 

The Student Princes forced 21 turnovers from the Crusaders and took advantage by scoring 21 points from the free possessions. Of those 21 turnovers, HU swiped 10 steals on the night. 

The Crusaders, who were led by a 20-point, 13-rebound performance from Joe Hartmann, did out-rebound Heidelberg by a margin of 41 to 32.

The 96 points is the first 90+ point performance for Heidelberg since they scored 91 vs John Carroll on February 4, 2019. 

Heidelberg will travel to Otterbein on Saturday as part of a men's / women's doubleheader. The men will tip at 3 p.m. The women will follow at approximately 5 p.m.