Ada, Ohio – February 24, 2010 – The Heidelberg University men’s basketball team excelled down the stretch en route to posting a 63-61 win over host Ohio Northern University in the quarterfinal round of the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament.
Heidelberg is the no. 5 seed in the eight-team tournament, while the Polar Bears were seeded fifth. The Berg is making its 49th appearance in the tournament, including its fourth-straight. The win is the first for the Berg over ONU on the year and snaps a Polar Bear 14-game winning streak over Heidelberg in Ada. Overall the Berg stands at 14-12 overall, while Ohio Northern closes out the year at 12-14.
Next up is no. 1 seeded John Carroll University on Friday, Feb. 26. Heidelberg and JCU join no. 3 Capital University and no. 2 Wilmington College in the semifinals. JCU is the host institution for the semifinals and finals.
Leading the way for the Berg was Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Harvest Preparatory) with a career-high 28 points, to go along with eight rebounds. Backing Givner was Josh Calver (Shelby, Ohio / Shelby) with 17 points and five assists. Travis Kinn (Alvada, Ohio / New Riegel) hauled in a team-best nine rebounds.
For the game, Heidelberg shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) compared to 40.0 percent (22-of-55) by ONU. Heidelberg held a 41-32 advantage on the glass.
Ohio Northern utilized a 14-0 run to extend a two-point advantage to 14 points, 18-4, with 12:34 left in the opening half of action. Heidelberg answered with a 5-0 run before the host Polar Bears pushed its lead back to 14, 31-17, with 7:11 on the clock.
Heidelberg did not quit and its defense held ONU to just one field goal over the final seven minutes of the first half to enable the Berg to pull within single digits at the break, 33-25.
In the early part of the second half, Heidelberg pulled within two points, 37-32, following an 8-0 run. With 17:34 on the clock Calver cut the Berg’s deficit to a basket, 37-35, with a three-point play.
ONU answered on the opposite end of the floor to keep the Berg at bay, eventually building a seven point lead, 45-38, with just over nine minutes to play. Kinn responded on the Berg’s next possessions and started a 7-0 Heidelberg run to tie the game at 45-45 with 7:11 on the clock.
Heidelberg and ONU battled back and forth with the Polar Bears taking control of the scoreboard briefly at 53-52, with 4:20 left. Givner put the Berg on top with two free throws on its next possession and it never relinquished the lead, holding on through two ties.