Allemeier and Bruns score 20 each, Men's Basketball falls to Heidelberg in 73-66 decision
By Scott Beaton
ADA — Junior Austin Allemeier (Elida) netted a career-high 20 points and senior All-American Ryan Bruns (Chickasaw/Marion Local) added 20 points of his own, but the Ohio Northern men's basketball team dropped a 73-66 decision to Heidelberg Wednesday evening inside the ONU Sports Center.
The result moves the Polar Bears to 3-7 overall and 0-5 in the OAC, while the Student Princes improve to 2-5 on the season and 2-2 in the conference.
ONU was led by Allemeier and Bruns with 20 points each with the latter picking up seven rebounds and four blocked shots in the midweek contest. Additionally, senior Daniel Donner chipped in 12 points and nine rebounds for the Polar Bears.
Heidelberg's Myron Prewitt dropped 36 points, including his 1000th career point, and grabbed 15 rebounds in an impressive performance to guide the Student Princes to victory.
Prewitt scored 22 points in the first half to lead HU to a 37-21 halftime advantage, its largest lead of the game.
ONU came out strong from the locker rooms, cutting the deficit to eight on a basket from Allemeier at the 14:27 mark. A three-pointer by freshman Daniel Unruh (Elida) drew the Polar Bears to within six for a 52-46 scoreline with 10:07 remaining. From there, Heidelberg extended its lead to 65-53 with 5:28 remaining before Ohio Northern launched a 7-0 run.
Northern came within four points on two separate occassions in the final two minutes as freshman Ty Staten (Proctorville/Fairland) scored off an assist from Bruns at the 1:20 mark. Donner then made a layup off a pass from Staten with a minute remaining to once again place the Polar Bears within four.
However, the Polar Bears were unable to complete the comeback as HU's Phariz Watkins drilled two free throws with 18 seconds on the clock to ice the game.
Ohio Northern made 22-of-50 (44.0%) shots from the floor, converting just 2-of-14 (14.3%) from three-point range. Northern earned a season-high 32 foul shots, making 20 attempts (62.5%). Heidelberg knocked down 30-of-68 (41.5%) attempts from the field, including 8-of-26 (30.8%) three-point attempts. HU additionally went 5-for-8 (62.5%) from the free throw line.
ONU is set to break from OAC action as the team travels to Las Vegas, Nevada for the D3hoops.com Classic next Thursday and Friday, December 27 and 28. The Polar Bears' first game is slated for December 27 at 8 p.m. PST against Linfield (Ore.).
