Quakers fall victim to late comeback in three-point loss

Short scores 20 in loss for Quakers

[BOX SCORE]

Eric Stirling

February 12, 2005

WILMINGTON, Ohio ­ The Wilmington College Quakers fell to 5-10 in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 73-70 loss to Heidelberg in Fred Raizk Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The game brings Heidelberg to within a game of the Quakers for the eighth and final spot in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament.

Deon Short (Cincinnati/Mt. Healthy) scored a team-high 20 points for the Quakers, while Eric Stirling (Brooklyn, NY/LaSalle Academy) chipped in 14.

The Quakers started the game with a 9-2 run, jumping out to a seven-point lead and not relinquishing that lead until the 5:55 mark of the first half, the middle of a 10-0 run by the Student Princes.

The Quakers responded with a run of their own, ending the half on a 12-5 run, taking a two-point lead into the locker room.

The Quakers came out flat in the second half, as the Student Princes were able to take a six-point lead with 15:50 to play in the game.

The hosts clawed their way back, and took a four-point lead with 10 minutes to play, as neither team was able to take more than a four point lead the rest of the way.

The Quakers led 69-65 after a pair of Short free throws with 3:57 to play in the game before the Student Princes ended the game on an 8-1 run, giving the team a three-point lead with 17 seconds to play in the game.

A pair of missed three point attempts in the final four seconds were off the mark, as the team split the season series with the Student Princes 1-1.

Heidelberg shot a blistering 62.5% from the field for the game (30-of-48), including an incredible 75% (18-of-24) in the second half, while hitting half of their 16 three-point attempts.

Short scored 20 points to pace the squad while Stirling scored 14 and Zach Broermann (Brookville, IN/LaSalle Academy) chipped in nine, as nine of the ten Quakers that played reached the scoring column.

Short pulled down a game-high seven rebounds, as the Quakers were out-rebounded 32-25 in the contest.

Josh Rohrbacher (Columbus/Beechcroft) dished out a career-high eight assists in the loss, while Short picked off five steals.

Heidelberg was led by the sharp shooting of guard Shawn Shriver, as he hit 6-of-8 three-point attempts and 10-of-14 overall for a game-high 14 points while Ron Higgins hit 7-of-9 from the field for 17 points. Brian Schmidt chipped in 10 in the winning effort.

With the loss, the Quakers fall to 9-14 overall and 5-11 in the OAC while Heidelberg improves to 7-16 overall and 4-12 in league play.

The Quakers remain one game ahead of the Student Princes in the race for the eighth seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament, with the Quakers playing Otterbein and Marietta in their last two as Heidelberg ends the season with games against John Carroll and Muskingum.

The next game for the Quakers is on Wednesday, February 16 as the team travels to Westerville, Ohio to face off against the Cardinals of Otterbein College with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m.