Ohio Wesleyan 83, Heidelberg 62

March 7, 2008

Senior post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) hit a pair of 3-pointers and junior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) contributed 5 points during a 15-4 run that gave Ohio Wesleyan the lead, and Rudegeair hit a pair of timely 3-pointers later in the first half to quell Heidelberg rallies as the Bishops defeated the Student Princes in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday at Alumni Gymasium on the campus of Centre College in Danville, Ky.

Ohio Wesleyan advances to the second round, where the Bishops will face Centre, a 75-61 winner over Franklin (Ind.) in Friday's nightcap. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Heidelberg had taken a 6-4 lead on Brian Schmidt's lay-in just over 3 minutes into the game.

Senior post Jesse Jean (Alexandria, Va./Hyde (Conn.) School) tied the game at 6-6 with a jumper from the lane before a Rudegeair 3-pointer put the Bishops ahead to stay.

Josh Calver's lay-in brought the Student Princes within 9-8, but Holliday followed with a lay-in and a 3-pointer to stretch the Bishop lead to 14-8, and another Rudegeair 3-pointer and a lay-in by sophomore post Brent Pleiman (Russia) gave the Bishops a 19-10 lead with 12:38 left in the first half.

Heidelberg closed to within 22-19 with a 7-0 run capped by Andrew Lemmon's jumper with 7:54 left in the period, but Ohio Wesleyan responded with a Jean lay-in and a Rudegeair 3-pointer, and 3-pointers by Rudegeair and senior wing Brian Cafarella (Westerville/North) gave the Bishops a 33-22 lead at the 3:38 mark of the half.

The Student Princes rallied with a lay-in and a dunk by Greg Tyson, Jr., slicing the margin to 35-28 with 1:47 left, but Holliday and junior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) scored for the Bishops to restore the 11-point margin, and senior guard Casey Teeters (Westerville/Columbus St. Charles) hit a 3-pointer with 7 seconds left in the half to give Ohio Wesleyan a 44-30 lead at the intermission.

Jean opened the second-half scoring with a jumper, and Rudegeair followed with a 3-pointer that gave Ohio Wesleyan a 49-30 lead, and Heidelberg would not come closer than 13 points during the remainder of the contest.

Rudegeair finished with a career-high 32 points, going 11-for-17 from the field, including 7-for-10 from 3-point range. It marked the second straight game in which Rudegeair established a career best in scoring, following his 29-point effort in Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference tournament championship game against Wabash. He also led the Bishops with 11 rebounds.

Holliday added 18 points, Jean scored 12 points, and Teeters and sophomore guard Robby Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) shared the Bishop lead with 3 assists apiece.

Schmidt led the Student Princes with 16 points, while Andrew Lemmon added 13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Box Score