Grant Heileman scores 14 to lead Men's Basketball in 72-57 loss at No.15 Heidelberg

By Andrew Loewe

TIFFIN — Sophomore Grant Heileman (Millersport/Sheridan) scored 14 points to lead the Ohio Northern men's basketball team in a 72-57 loss to No. 15 Heidelberg on Saturday night at Seiberling Gymnasium.

ONU drops to 3-4 overall and 3-4 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while HU improves to 7-2, 7-2.

Northern had two other players score in double figures as sophomores C.J. Napier (Miamisburg/Bishop Fenwick) scored 12 and Landen Long (Mason) added 11.

Junior Brandon Waugh (Columbus/Northland) had a career-high seven assists.

Heidelberg's Alex Arellano and Dylan Woods lead all scorers with 21 points and 19 points, respectively.

ONU took the lead into halftime 37-33, but HU grabbed the lead 49-47 with 10:30 remaining and never looked back.

After a Napier layup with 9:04 remaining brought the Polar Bears within 55-51, the Student Princes went on a 17-2 run to grab their largest lead of the game at 72-53 with 2:17 to go.

Ohio Northern made 19-of-42 field goal attempts for 45.2 percent and were 1-of-8 from 3-point range for 25 percent. Heidelberg was 29-of-68 from the floor for 42.6 percent and shot 11-of-33 three-pointers for 33.3 percent.

ONU shot 18-for-21 for 85.2 percent from the free throw line and Heidelberg shot 3-for-4 for 75 percent from the charity stripe.

The Polar Bears outrebounded the Student Princes 38-24.

Northern has now played Heidelberg four consecutive games after the series. ONU and HU faced off on Feb. 5-6 in their regularly scheduled games and the Polar Bears' games with against John Caroll last weekend and Capital this weekend were canceled due to COVID-19 protocols at the other two schools.

ONU and HU were able to schedule this weekend's games on short notice Friday afternoon, making it the first time in school history Ohio Northern played the same team in four consecutive matchups.

The Polar Bears will wrap up their regular season with a series against Baldwin-Wallace next weekend with the first of the home-and-home being played Friday night at 7 pm at the ONU Sports Center.