TIFFIN, Ohio—Junior guard Quintin Aden (Canal Winchester/Harvest Prep) made the game-winning lay-up with two seconds to play in overtime to send the Heidelberg University men's basketball team to a 68-66 win over Wilmington College today in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. Junior second-team All-OAC guard Dane Givner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Harvest Prep) scored a team-high 18 points and freshman forward Bryan Crawford (Delaware/Buckeye Valley) made two key shots to aid the Student Prince effort.
Givner scored 10 of his game-high 18 points after halftime and grabbed seven rebounds, but snapped a four-game streak of recorded four assists or more. Junior honorable mention All-OAC forward Nate Davis (Dayton/Stivers) scored 12 points, pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and notched two more thunderous dunks, one in each half. Senior guard C.J. Powell (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Foley) scored 11 points and sophomore forward Victor Fortkamp (St. Henry) had 10 points and seven rebounds. Crawford and Aden tallied seven points and four points, respectively.
Wilmington (8-8, 6-4 OAC) was led by Antonio Bowman's 21 points off the bench. Brandon Candella added 15 points and seven rebounds of his own and Klarke Ransome came off the bench to tally 10 markers.
Heidelberg (6-11, 4-6 OAC) broke a 6-6 tie and took a 10-6 lead at the 13:55 mark following lay-ups by freshman forward Chris Jefferies (Concord/Painesville Riverside) on consecutive possessions.
Brandon Candella sparked a 12-0 Quaker run, scoring eight points in just under three minutes, to give Wilmington an 18-10 advantage following his jumper at the 11:00 mark. The Quakers took their largest lead of the first half at 24-14 with a Malcolm Heard lay-up at 8:50.
Givner tallied five markers during a 7-2 Student Prince run and the Berg cut the deficit to 26-21 with a pair of free throws from Davis with just under seven minutes to play in the first half.
Heidelberg then outscored Wilmington, 10-5, over the next five minutes and tied the game for the third time in the opening period at 31-31 when Davis sank another pair from the charity stripe with 1:32 left.
Two free throws and a three-pointer from Antonio Bowman with one minute left in the opening half sent the Quakers into the break clinging to a 36-31 lead.
Both teams came out of the intermission trading baskets, with Wilmington holding on to a 43-37 lead with just under 16 minutes to play. The Quakers put together a 7-2 run to take a 50-39—its largest of the game—at 11:11 with a jumper from Christian Patterson.
The Student Princes then built a 15-8 run of their own, bringing them to within 58-54 at the 3:27 mark as Givner made a jumper and converted a three-point play after being fouled.
Trailing, 60-56, Davis made another pair of free throws, bringing the Berg to within two points with just over a minute to play in regulation.
After trading possessions twice, fourth-year head coach Anthony Gholson called a timeout. A missed lay-up by Fortkamp fell into Crawford's waiting hands and Crawford followed up with the put back to tie the game, 60-60, with six seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
Neither team could gain an edge during the early minutes of the first overtime period, until R.J. Leppert broke the deadlock with a jumper at the 2:45 mark, giving Wilmington a 62-60 lead.
With just under two minutes to play, Crawford made one of two free throw attempts to close to within one.
Leppert again made a lay-up, putting the Quakers ahead, 64-61, but Givner made a lay-up and converted another three-point play on the Berg's ensuing possession to knot the score, 64-64, with 1:23 to go. Bowman turned the ball over on Wilmmington's possession, and Crawford capitalized with a jumper, giving the Student Princes their first lead, 66-64, of the overtime period.
Ransome again performed well in the clutch for the Quakers, sinking a pair of free throws with 18 ticks on the clock to knot the score, 66-66, the sixth and final tie of the game.
Gholson called another time out to regroup. Aden corralled the in-bounds pass, looked to his right, and penetrated the lane for the game-winning lay-up.
Heidelberg shot 38.7 percent (24-of-62) from the field overall and was three-of-five in overtime, shot 70.8 percent (17-of-24) and pulled down 18 offensive rebounds on 38 missed shots.
Wilmington was 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the field, 13.3 percent (two-of-15) from the three point line and 70.0 percent (14-of-20) from the charity stripe.
The Berg returns to the road Wednesday, Jan. 25 when it faces Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea at 7:30 p.m. B-W defeated the Student Princes, 90-69, in Tiffin earlier this season.