WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Heidelberg University men's basketball team bounced back from consecutive losses, defeating the Otterbein Cardinals 74-62. With the victory, the Student Princes remain in a tie atop the OAC standings.
Three Heidelberg players scored double digits on the night.
Emmanuel Perdue found 18, hot off of scoring his 1,000 career point on Wednesday.
Isaiah Young followed with 17 and
Jashun Cobb at 14 – a career high.
Offense was extremely hard to come by early for the Cardinals as the Student Princes strapped down defensively and forced a 0-12 start from the field for Otterbein. After a Perdue 3-pointer broke the ice, The Berg was off and running.
The offense continued to roll after a
Zane Leitwein 3-pointer gave The Berg their first double-digit lead at the halfway point of the period. Heidelberg's bench made their presence known in the first half with
DJ Ferguson coming in and dropping eight points.
Despite their shooting woes, the Cardinals wouldn't let up as they went on a huge 19-9 run to start the second half, ultimately cutting the Heidelberg lead all the way down to just one.
Eric Panning was the main catalyst to halt the run with a huge putback dunk. Following that was a block to get Young an easy layup. With 9:27 remaining,
Seth Hohman sank a 3-pointer to bring the lead back up to double digits.
Between Perdue's mid-range attack and Young getting to the rim, there was no looking back for the Student Princes. The Cardinals' shooting struggles continued late when they just couldn't get the lid off the rim.
Rebounding played a critical role in the game. The visitors dominated on the boards, winning the rebound battle 45-28.
Eric Panning and
Zane Leitwein each grabbed eight.
The Heidelberg defense was impressive in both halves, holding the Cardinals to shooting only 33.9% from the field and 29% from 3-point land.
This contest pushed the Student Prince record to 10-3 on the year and 5-1 in OAC league play. They continue their streak of road games on Wednesday, as they travel to Columbus to face the Capital Comets. The contest is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.
