Schnelle, Rushton combine for 44 points as Men's Basketball falls to Heidelberg in double OT thriller

ADA — Junior Scott Schnelle recorded his eighth career double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Ohio Northern men's basketball team fell 80-77 in double overtime to Heidelberg in the Quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

Northern finishes the season at 13-13, while Heidelberg improves to 12-14 and advances to take on top-seeded Marietta on Thursday in the semifinals.

Freshman Branden Rushton added 16 points, with freshman Joe Staley contributing 12 points for Ohio Northern.

Heidelberg was led by Dane Givner's game-high 26 points, with Kyle Tuley, Darion Capers and Wes Paramore adding 14, 11, and 10 points respectively.

The second overtime started with Givner giving the Student Princes the 73-71 lead with a quick layup.

Schnelle sank two free throws to even the game at 73-73.

Givner added two more free throws with 28 seconds left to put Heidelberg up 78-75.

A tip-in by Staley brought Northern to within one at 78-77 with five seconds left, but Givner sank two more free throws to seal the 80-77 Heidelberg win.

A Schnelle jumper with 30 seconds left in the first overtime brought the game to 71-71. The ONU defense held HU without a good look at the basket in the ensuing possession for force the second extra period.

Heidelberg built a 52-48 lead with 8:21 remaining in the second half when freshman Dominique Royal scored six unanswered points to put the Polar Bears up 54-52 with 7:02 remaining.

A Royal steal led to a tip-in from freshman Jared Horstman to give Northern a 56-52 lead with 5:25 remaining.

A pair of Tuley free throws with 26 seconds left brought Heidelberg to a 65-65 tie to force overtime.

Northern started slow in the first half with Heidelberg building an 11-5 lead with 13:44 remaining.

A jumper by junior Logan Conley with 8:56 left tied the game at 16-16.

The Polar Bears staked a 26-24 lead with 2:00 left off of a Rushton free throw, before the Student Princes scored four unanswered to claim a 28-26 lead going into halftime.

Rushton led all scorers with 12 points in the first half.

"I tip my hat to Heidelberg," said head coach John Rhodes. "I'm proud of our guys. They're great kids. We've shown a lot of resilience this season, and next year we'll continue to get better and hopefully go further."

The Polar Bears made 31 of 69 field goal attempts for 44.9 percent, while the Student Princes made 28 of 59 field goals for 47.5 percent.

Heidelberg won the rebounding battle 44-28, but Ohio Northern forced HU into committing 24 turnovers to just 17 for the hosts.