BEREA, Ohio — They needed five extra minutes to get the job done, but the Heidelberg University men's basketball team defeated No. 24 Baldwin Wallace University, 82-80 on Wednesday night. Kiere Bennie scored five of his 15 points in overtime to help HU seal the win.
Four Student Princes finished the night in double figures. Prince Benson was a rebound shy of a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Junior Myron Prewitt poured in a team-high 19 points and has eight boards. Chris Moxley added 14 points and seven rebounds as well.
With the score tied at 9, Heidelberg rattled off a 13-3 run to take a 22-12 lead, with four of the HU points coming from Prewitt.
James Hanley drained a triple with 7:36 before intermission to put the Berg back up by double digits. BW came storming back to cut the Heidelberg lead to 29-24 with 4:20 in the first half.
Freshman Bailey Croft responded to the Yellow Jacket run by burying a trey, putting the Berg up by eight points. Baldwin Wallace hit consecutive 3-pointers to close out the half, where Heidelberg took a 36-33 lead into the break.
BW's Jake Fetherolf nailed a three to open up the second half, knotting the game at 36. The teams traded baskets before the home team took a 47-43 lead with 15:02 on the clock. Despite the back and forth battle, no team extended their lead to more than six points.
A Kyle Nader triple pushed the BW advantage to 61-56 with 9:26 remaining. The shot sparked a small 11-5 Student Prince run, spanning nearly four minutes, helping HU regain the lead at 67-66.
Baldwin Wallace hit a three to give the home team a four point lead with 2:06 left. Undaunted, Moxley made a layup as the Student Princes got defensive stops over the final four Yellow Jacket possessions.
Benson sank a pair of free throws with 53 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime.
Bennie came out firing in overtime, opening with a layup and a triple to give HU a 78-73 advantage. Once again, BW battled back, and tied the game back up at 80 with 1:37 thanks to another Fetherolf 3-pointer.
Benson split a pair of free throws to put the Berg up by one point. HU got two more defensive stops before Hanley also split a pair of foul shots. The Berg held onto a two point advantage with three seconds on the clock.
Baldwin Wallace got a good look at a 3-pointer, but Jay Battle's last-second triple rimmed out.
With Benson and Prewitt as a primary force in the front court, Heidelberg outscored BW in the paint, 44-26.
"It was great to see our team respond after a difficult loss," said head coach Andy Bucheit. "They played united and we are very proud of their efforts tonight."
The men remain on the road when they travel to Otterbein University on Saturday. Tip off in Westerville is scheduled for 2 p.m.