BEREA, OHIO – Junior two-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored a game-high 23 points and moved into 20th place on Baldwin Wallace's University's all-time scoring list as the Yellow Jacket men's basketball team defeated Heidelberg University, 81-67, in an OAC game in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets improve to 18-6 overall and 13-4 in the OAC have won 15 of their last 17 games, and earned a season sweeo of Heidelberg. The loss drops the Student Princes 10-14 overall and 5-13 in the OAC.
 
In addition to Payne, who scored 50 points in the two victories against Heidelberg this season, sophomore point guard Jaron Crowe (Mentor) scored 16 points and junior forward Tyler Ferrell (Brunswick) added 10 markers.  Payne now has 1,148 points and sits 11 points shy of Dick Selgo (1947-50) for 19th place all-time.  Senior Academic All-OAC and first-team CAPITAL ONE Academic All-District 7 guard Ben Umbel (Poland/ Seminary) pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and played his usual outstanding all-around game.

 

Heidelberg was led in scoring by freshman forward Jackson's Blue's 14 points.  Senior guard Dane Givner added 13 points and game-high 13 rebounds freshman transfer guard Keith Mackie scored 10.  Senior center Nate Davis was one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 10 caroms.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 6-2 lead by the 17:24 mark as Ferrell and Crowe sank back-to-back three-pointers. Senior Academic All-OAC forward Chris Ameen (Broadview Heights/ Walsh Jesuit) capped a 6-2 spurt at 13:55 when he made a pair of free throws to increase the BW advantage to 12-4.

 

Crowe drained another three-pointer at 11:17 to move the Jackets out to 19-10 lead, but Heidelberg scored six straight points to cut its deficit to 19-16 at 10:01 when freshman forward Josh Pollner made a jump shot.

 

Undaunted, BW outscored the Student Princes by an 18-4 margin in just more than five minutes to move to its largest lead of the first half at 37-20.  The run was keyed by a pair of treys from junior two-time All-OAC guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/ Parma Heights Holy Name), and five points each from junior sharpshooting guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland/ Senior) and Payne.

 

The Student Princes cut the BW lead to 10 points on two separate occasions, with the last coming at 1:27 when junior guard Mike Petrie made a lay-up. BW shot a blistering 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from long range in the opening half and turned the ball over just twice and went into the break with a 41-32 lead.

 

Ferrell capped a 9-4 BW run to open the second half with another three-pointer at the 17:26 mark, and the Yellow Jackets took their largest lead of the half at 50-36. Heidelberg then went on a 8-2 run of its own to cut the deficit to 52-44 at 15:22 with an Ishaam Smith Jr. lay-up. The Student Princes closed to within five points following a fast break lay-up by freshman forwared Jackson Blue at 12:01 to cut the margin to 55-50.

 

Ameen sank a free throw and Fairhurst drained his second triple of the night at 9:13 move the Yellow Jackets back to a nine-point lead at 61-52. The Student Princes would come to within four points on two separate occasions, with the last coming at 6:14 when Givner made a pair of shots from the free throw line that cut the score to 64-60.

BW countered by limiting Heidelberg to just two free throws over the next 3:21 and scored 10 points of its own to take a 74-62 edge following a pair of free throws from Ameen at the 2:53 mark.  The Yellow Jackets made seven of eight free throws down the stretch to secure the win.

 

This Saturday, February 16, the BW women and men host OAC-rival Muskingum University in a doubleheader in Berea. The twinbill will be taped by S&S Video Productions and televised by regional cable TV network SportsTime Ohio. The men's game will air on Saturday night at 9:00 p.m., Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and Monday at 7:00 a.m. BW has televised more of its athletics events on regional cable television than any other small college in the country.

Fans can both hear LIVE AUDIO of the game live on campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, and via the Internet at www.bwyellowjackets.com. You also can view LIVE STATS at http://livestats.prestosports.com/baldwinwallace/. 
 
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.

Photo Courtesy of Mark Selmek