Sunday, January 30, 2000

Heidelberg cashes in on Hill's special play

By Andy Cole
Sports Writer

Heidelberg coach John Hill's office is littered with things from his 24 years at the helm. He got the chance to add another in kind of an unconventional way Saturday, receiving, for good reason, the Big Play Award sticker usually given to a player.

"They'd just gotten (the lead to five), and the shot clock was down to 13, and I called Tiger," said Hill after his team finished a season sweep of Muskingum with a 69-58 win at Seiberling Gymnasium. The 'Berg improved to 11-8 while Muskingum fell to 12-7. Both teams are 6-5 in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

"We scored off it, and we got a lot of big baskets. We got them when we needed them. (Ryan) Szepiela, (Ryan) Niemic and (Randy) Evans all had big baskets.

"I was pleased with the way we held Muskingum to 21 points in the first half. This was a better win for us than the one down there (a 69-65 overtime win on Dec. 4). We were very good defensively, and I thought we rebounded well, too."

Heidelberg's shooting was the story of the first half, as the home team hit 14-of-26 from the field and 7-of-9 from 3-point range to build a 35-21 halftime lead. The Muskies held a 10-4 lead early, but The 'Berg battled back and took a 19-17 lead on an inside move by Szepiela and a trey by Evans. Chris Garber scored for Muskingum to tie the score at 19-19 with 7:13 left in the half, but Heidelberg went on a 16-2 run to close the half.

Evans, Kory Winkler and C.J. Short hit 3-pointers during the run. Nate Walters and Szepiela hit jumpers to close the half.

Muskingum would make several small runs at Heidelberg in the second half, but would never get closer than five points away. Mike Moler's bucket with 2:37 left made it a 58-53 game, but a Jon Otterbacher's only field goal of the game brought the lead back to seven. The lead closed to five one more time (60-55 with 1:21 left), but Evans converted a three-point play and Walters hit a pair from the foul line to help ensure victory.

"We got some good play off the bench," Hill said. "Niemic had a big, big basket, Josh Patterson had a big steal and C.J. Short had a great first half.

"We were 8-of-12 from the 3-point line, and we didn't take a bad shot from out there. We also shot well from the foul line, which we don't do all the time and it was nice to see."

Evans scored 19 points and shot 4-of-5 from 3-point range for Heidelberg. Walters scored 13 points, Szepiela pitched in 12 and Winkler scored 10. Ryan Niemic finished with eight points and five rebounds.

Otterbacher had four assists and five steals, and Walters had four assists. The 'Berg shot 9-of-11 from the foul line and outrebounded the Muskies, 27-20. Heidelberg turned the ball over just 10 times.

Garber scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Muskingum. Moler scored 16 points.