January 20, 2000
Jekyll/Hyde act adds suspense to 'Berg games
By Andy Cole
Sports Writer
After a win over Capital University Wednesday night, Heidelberg's attention turns to Marietta, where the Pioneers will have The 'Berg on its home floor, looking to avenge a 20-point loss earlier this season. For Heidelberg and its coach, things boil down quite simply.
"If we play against Marietta like we played the first half the last two games, we'll get our butts kicked," said Heidelberg coach John Hill. "If we play against them like we did in the second half the last two games, we'll kick their butt."
The numbers would seem to support his statement. After a lackadaisical first half ended tied at 25, Heidelberg (9-7, 4-4 Ohio Athletic Conference) put up 53 points in the second half to rout Capital (5-10, 1-7 OAC), 78-51.
Marietta will be looking to break a two-game skid, having lost to Otterbein at home, 84-81 Wednesday. Otterbein leads the OAC at 6-2, followed by Marietta, Ohio Northern and Muskingum, all at 5-3. Muskingum spanked Ohio Northern, 82-67, and Mount Union topped John Carroll, 68-61.
"Kory Winkler did a tremendous job the entire game tonight for us," Hill said. "Ryan Szepiela has also stepped up the last four games, and done everything we need him to do. He's playing good defense, he's rebounding and he's scoring when we get him the ball in the block. We now have our two post men giving us at least 10 points every game, and that's a huge lift."
A lid on the Capital rim helped The 'Berg to a quick start, as the Crusaders didn't hit their first field goal until over five and a half minutes in. Randy Evans hit a 3-pointer early for Heidelberg, and jumpers on the next two trips by Evans and Ryan Niemic made it 11-1.
It took just four minutes later in the half for Capital to get back into it. Geron Tate, Chris McGuire and Gibsonburg grad Brent Fahle came up with hoops in quick succession, and a three-point play with 8:32 left in the half cut the lead to 17-16. Heidelberg went nearly five minutes without a field goal near the end of the half, and Brad Howe's 3-pointer brought the Crusaders even at 25-25.
One thing that helped Capital climb back into the game was turnovers. The 'Berg came in averaging 14 turnovers per game, but turned it over 12 times in the first half alone Wednesday.
"I was definitely not happy with the number of turnovers we had," said Hill, whose team finished with 21. "(Capital) shot very poorly to start the game, but we didn't handle their pressure very well and we only scored 25 points.
"In the second half, we started to take it to them. We took them out of what they wanted to do and started getting some steals and some easy breakaway shots. We had 53 points in the second half, so we had to be doing something right.
"We had a lot of unforced turnovers, and that's something we don't do. Usually, even if we don't get the points, we're getting the shots by keeping the ball."
Winkler's tip-in 34 seconds into the second half put Heidelberg up for good, and The 'Berg started the second half the way it had the first, scoring the first 11 points and 15 of the first 17. Winkler scored eight points in a 21-4 run, Ryan Klebowski and Szepiela added four each, and Niemic finished it off with a dunk to make it 46-29 with 12:17 to go.
Evans, who finished 4-of-6 from 3-point range and led all scorers with 21 points, hit a pair of treys within 30 seconds of each other to balloon the lead to 19. A 3-pointer by Capital's Josh Thompson made the lead 11 points (56-45) with 6:53 to go, but Winkler's three-point play started an 18-2 run. Winkler scored four more points during the run, and Josh Patterson converted a three-point play.
"Any good team needs to have points off the bench, and we got them tonight," Hill said. "Klebowski gave us a great lift off the bench, Ryan Forry came in and had an excellent game running things at point guard, and Niemic had his first dunk of the season and got the crowd into the game.
"We're fighting for respect, and I think we're hard to beat here. We've got some very good teams coming in here over the rest of the league schedule, and if we can get the games here and sneak in a couple on the road, we'll be in good shape. Anything could happen."
Winkler was 7-of-10 from the floor for the second game in a row, following Evans with 17 points, and Klebowski (12 points) and Szepiela (10 points) also attained double figures. Evans and Szepiela had six rebounds each and Niemic and Klebowski each came down with five for Heidelberg, which outrebounded Capital, 38-29. Jon Otterbacher had eight assists and four steals, and Evans had three assists and three steals.
The 'Berg shot 34-of-62 from the field for 55 percent, and held CU to 21-of-56, including 9-of-28 in the first half.
McGuire was the only Crusader in double figures, finishing with 11 points. Patrick McNeal came off the bench to provide eight points and five rebounds.