 "Photo: Melissa Rowling")
The No. 25 Warrior Men’s Basketball Team advanced to 15-1 on Wednesday night as they shocked the home team, the Bloomsburg Huskies, coming back from a 15-point deficit and leading to a double overtime.
The Huskies led 69-54 when the Warriors forced the first overtime. A 25 to 10 run toward the end started with freshman Gerald Bridges’ two three pointers with 4:30 left in the game. Junior Mike Tobin made two free throws with 37 seconds left. The Warriors never led during regulation play.
ESU turned the ball over with a few seconds left in the game. Bloomsburg player Ruben Britt threw a half-court shot that hit the rim as the clock ran out. Freshman forward Terrance King’s layup allowed the Warriors to have the lead in overtime.
With the score at 86-84, senior guard Andy Heimbach was fouled on a three-pointer getting the chance to take the lead with three fowl shots. He tied the score at 86 each with the first two shots, missing the third.
It was during the second overtime that the ESU Warriors outscored the opposing team, tallying the score 93-89. Heimbach and fellow senior Robbie Pines both scored to keep it at a six-point lead. The Warriors’ won the game 101-96 at the end of the double overtime. Pines held the career-high 18 points and Heimbach finished with 14, leaving him just a point shy of the 1,000-point benchmark.
“We’ve been playing well as a team, doing the little things everyday to get better,” says Heimbach on the amazing season the team is having, contributing it to the teamwork of the players. “We enjoy our style of play and each player has a significant role where any individual is capable of having a big game each night.”
It was Saturday’s game against Cheyney that improved the Warrior teams record to 16-1. The 77-73 win at Cheyney was the game in which Heimbach scored 11 points, including the career defining 1,000th point.
“It’s a great accomplishment for my career personally, but it’s a tribute to the great players I’ve played with,” Heimbach says, being very modest about his achievement. “Right now I haven’t thought about it too much because as a team we have a long way to go...but it is a great feeling, and something I’ll look back on more when this season is over.”
Heimbach led with his 11 points, followed by Pines and Tobin who each scored 10; King made nine points; and sophomore Eric Bryan and freshman Marcus Brown both had eight.
Brown’s final shot in the first half gave the Warriors a 37-30 lead into the halftime. It was only junior Mike DeMarco who did not score in the first half out of nine ESU players but he later score a three-pointer in the second half.
With almost 10 minutes remaining in the game the score was 59-49. It was in those final 10 minutes that Heimbach scored his 1,000th point making him the 23rd in ESU history to reach this mark. The Wolves then came back to get within a point of the Warriors.
As Pines made two free throws putting the Warriors at 68-62, it was freshman Duane Johnson who was fowled, scoring both baskets to bump it to 70-62. As the Warriors owned the last few minutes, the Wolves scored three last minute three-pointers, but it was not enough. Tobin scored two more for the Warriors ending the game at 77-73.
Senior Preston Ritter commented on the latest two games saying, “The Kutztown loss did a lot to our attitude towards our past two opponents.”
Under head coach Jeff Wilson the Warriors were ranked 25 this week and had their second PSAC East win on the road.
The Warriors play this Wednesday, hosting Mansfield at 8 p.m. in Koehler Field House.
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