TIFFIN -- One of the most memorable seasons in the history of the Heidelberg University men's basketball program came to a disappointing end in the quarterfinal round of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament. A late lead evaporated and the second-seeded Student Princes lost to seventh-seeded Wilmington College, 62-58.
Heidelberg, ranked No. 15 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 15, ends their season at 9-3. Wilmington (4-9) will advance to face top-seeded Marietta on Thursday.
Alex Arellano paced Heidelberg with 12 points and 11 rebounds -- his first double-double of the season.
Emmanuel Perdue had a team-high 14 points and grabbed six boards.
Seth Hohman amassed 10 points and nine boards.
Playing each other for the third time in five days, Heidelberg and Wilmington traded body-blows throughout the evening -- but especially in the seesaw second half.
A driving layup by Perdue with 6:32 left to play gave Heidelberg a five-point lead, its largest of the half. After the teams traded layups, Quaker freshman Bilal Sow stepped into the limelight.
Sow knocked down a 3-pointer, his second of the game, cutting HU's lead down to one at 53-52. On the other end, Hohman converted a three-point play to restore the lead.
Following a Quaker layup, the teams traded missed 3-pointers. Down two with just under two minutes left, Sow drilled another 3-pointer -- a big-time bucket that put the upset-minded visitors up one.
Heidelberg regained the lead on the next possession as Arellano calmly sank a pair from the line.
With HU ahead 58-57, both teams missed the front end of one-and-ones. Then, with less than a minute left, Sow showed up yet again. WC's Anthony Freeman missed a 3-pointer, but Jackson Todd gathered the loose ball. The Quakers swung the ball into the right corner, where Sow hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game -- and third in four minutes of time.
Heidelberg had two great looks to tie or take the lead before the ball was knocked out of bounds off of a Quaker with 15.6 seconds left. Out of a timeout, a perimeter pass was tipped into the backcourt where Todd ran onto it and seemingly sealed the game with a layup.
The frantic final moments came after a fast-paced first half.
With the score tied at 12, Heidelberg went on a 9-3 run to lead 18-15 with 12:30 remaining in the first half. Taylor scored five points in the run.
After a Quakers 3-pointer, the Student Princes went on a 10-4 run to extend their lead to 21-18 with 11 minutes remaining in the half.
A 9-1 run from Wilmington in the final four minutes of the half gave the visiting squad a 33-31 lead heading into the break.
For the game, the Quakers were 10-29 (34.5%) from 3-point range compared to 5-23 (21.7%) for Heidelberg. The Student Princes led in offensive rebounds (13-7) and recorded 15 second chance points.
Heidelberg also led in points in the paint with 26 to Wilmington's 18. The Quakers had 20 points off the bench, with Heidelberg starters scoring all but eight points.
With a final winning percentage of .750, the turbulent 2021 season was one of the best in school history. Among seasons with at least 10 games, this season is tied for the seventh-best.
