TIFFIN, Ohio—Junior honorable mention All-OAC forward Nate Davis (Dayton/Stivers) scored 16 points, matched a game-high with nine rebounds and had two more thunderous dunks to lead the Heidelberg University men's basketball team past Ohio Northern University, 75-74, tonight in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. Davis, who was six-of-10 shooting and tallied a career-high six blocks, was featured two weeks ago on ESPN's SportsCenter with the No. 9 play of the day (Dec. 17) with similar style dunks. The win snapped a three-game game losing streak for the Berg.
In addition to Davis for the Student Princes (4-8, 2-3 OAC), senior guard Darion Capers (Clayton/Trotwood-Madison) and junior second-team All-OAC guard Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Harvest Prep) each tallied 14 points and sophomore forward Victor Fortkamp (St. Henry) added eight markers. Capers also recorded a game-high three assists.
ONU (7-5, 3-2 OAC) was led by Scott Schnelle with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds on a six-of-12 shooting performance. Schnelle was also 10-of-11 from the free throw line. Jared Horstman added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Polar Bears and Branden Rushton and Taylor Kuhlman tallied 13 points and 12 points, respectively.
The Student Princes jumped out to a 6-2 lead thanks to four free throws from Capers and a jumper in the paint by Givner at the 18:15 mark.
ONU chipped into the 'Berg lead and took a 11-10 advantage by going on a 9-4 run, capped at the 14:48 mark with a lay-up by Schnelle.
Davis snatched the lead right back seconds later, grabbing an offensive rebound and slamming another dunk home in on motion, putting Heidelberg ahead, 12-11.
The Polar Bears scored five straight points to take a 16-12 lead thanks to a three-pointer by Taylor Kuhlman with 13:53 on the clock.
ONU led by four points on four more occasions in the opening half, with the last coming at the 6:10 mark.
The Student Princes went on an 8-0 run to take a four-point lead of their own at 31-37 with three more markers from Capers and a trey from junior guard Quintin Aden (Canal Winchester/Harvest Prep) with 4:01 to go.
The teams traded points over the remainder of the period. Following a three-pointer by junior guard CJ Powell (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Foley) that put Heidelberg up, 36-32, ONU scored five points and entered the intermission with a 37-36 advantage after Adam Bair buried a triple with just 43 seconds to go.
Heidelberg scored seven straight points to start the second half, taking a 43-37 lead, before ONU called a timeout to stop the momentum. Capers knocked down a jumper on the Berg's ensuing possession, extending the lead to 45-37 at the 17:17 mark, but ONU went on a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to 47-43 when Horstman canned a triple with 15:31 on the clock.
The Student Princes scored five straight points to extend their lead to 52-43 at the 14:22 mark when Capers made a fast break lay-up.
ONU again chipped away at the Berg lead, cutting the gap to 54-51 with just under 11 minutes to play as Schnelle made a lay-up.
Heidelberg rushed back out to a 10 point lead—its largest of the game—when Capers converted a three-point play at the 8:14 mark. The Student Princes maintained between a six and nine-point lead as the remaining minutes of the game ticked away.
The Tri-Color withstood a 9-2 jaunt by ONU over the final 1:24 to secure the win. Kuhlman nailed a jumper with 14 seconds to play to cut the gap to 75-71. A foul on the ensuing inbounds play by Horstman sent Givner to the line, where his missed free throw was rebounded by Schnelle and pushed to Lucas Pennington, who made a three-pointer with two seconds left to cut the Berg lead to one 75-71.
A successful inbound allowed Heidelberg to run the clock down and snap its three-game losing streak.
The Student Princes shot a season-high 53.8 percent (28-of-52) from the field and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the charity stripe and had just 14 turnovers.
ONU was 42.4 (25-of-59) from the field and 73.9 percent (17-of-23) and held a 35-32 rebounding advantage.
The Berg returns to the hardwood on Saturday, Jan. 7 with an OAC game at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio at 3 p.m.