Sunday, December 23, 2001
Heidelberg takes two steps back
By Andy Cole
Sports Writer
acole@advertiser-tribune.com
After coming from behind in a number of games only to come up short, Heidelberg finally got a pair of close ones in a row by beating Baldwin-Wallace and Lake Erie in back-to-back games.
While some may see that as turning a corner, The 'Berg discovered Saturday that corner may still be a few feet further.
Nick Filipic hit a pair of 3-pointers from the corner to make for an exciting ending, but Bluffton knocked off The 'Berg 85-83 in the championship game of the Hampton Inn Coaches vs. Cancer Holiday Classic.
Bluffton (5-5) shot 62 percent from the floor, including 8 of 13 from 3-point range, but according to Heidelberg (5-7) coach John Hill the Beavers shooting success had to do with the shots considerably inside the 3-point arc.
"They didn't shoot well, but they shot layups and got wide-open shots from us, which made a big difference," Hill said. "Anyone can shoot layups, and we gave them a lot.
"We ran into a team that outplayed us today. They came in and executed their game plan, and we were frustrated with the way we were playing the entire game."
Heidelberg's Ryan Klebowski scored to cut Bluffton's early lead to 22-19 with 8:57 left in the first half, but the Beavers would score 20 of the next 29 points. Marcus Bixler's layup gave Bluffton its biggest lead (42-28) with 2:14 to go, but Klebowski helped cut the lead again by hitting a jumper and pulling down a rebound that led to a Rudy Wolf 3-pointer. Another Klebowski bucket was the final score in a half that saw Bluffton carry a 44-35 lead in to the locker room.
Bluffton's Mike Leimeister, who was named the tournament MVP, took advantage of several open looks to go 8 of 12 and score 17 first half points.
The first Heidelberg comeback started with just over nine minutes to go in the game, after Rod Overmyer hit a 3-pointer to give BC a 68-57 edge. Two baskets by Ryan Niemic, a three-point play by Filipic and foul shots by Klebowski cut the lead to four (70-66). Bluffton seemingly had the game in hand again by running the lead back to 10 points.
The 'Berg refused to quit, as two scores by Niemic sandwiched around a foul shot Wolf made it a five-point game. Filipic scored on a putback to cut the lead to three points, and after the Beavers opened the lead back up four, he hit a trey from the corner assisted by Niemic, making it 81-80 with 1:25 left.
Bixler found Liemeister wide open just 19 seconds later, but Filipic's second 3-pointer from the same corner, this one off a pass from Wolf, tied the game with 49 seconds left. With 24 ticks left, Bixler worked his way open and hit a 15-footer. After a time out, Lucas Messer and Kyle Tackett missed shots in the closing seconds.
"We did a hell of a job coming back when Bluffton could have blown us out," Hill said. "We had it tied near the end and we could have won with some defensive execution in the last two minutes of the game.
"Nick Filipic did a tremendous job off the bench, and scored the last three times he touched the ball. Ryan Klebowski and Ryan Niemic also did great jobs. We lost as a team, and we got back into it as a team. If some of our guys do one thing different offensively or defensively, we could have won the game.
"We get eight days off now, and we need them. Hopefully our guys will come back fresh and ready to play. We have 14 games left, and none of them will be easy, because they're all in the OAC from here on out."
Niemic was 10 of 18 en route to 21 points, followed by Klebowski with 18 and Filipic with 11. Messer grabbed eight rebounds to help The 'Berg outboard the Beavers, 36-29. Kevin Slates, Tackett and Wolf handed out five assists apiece.
Leimeister (23 points), Derek DeNero (19), Overmyer (17) and Bixler (14) were in double figures for Bluffton. Bixler dished out 10 assists.
Leimeister was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Messer, Niemic, DeNero, Lake Erie's Brandon Henderson and Hiram's David Mayle. Lake Erie took the consolation game over Hiram, 93-67.