Heidelberg took tough shots all night long and had a difficult time at the free-throw line in a 69-60 loss to Capital.
On a brighter note, Heidelberg senior Nate Davis made his mark in the record books Wednesday night, setting the all-time record of 175 blocks. The former record held by Ryan Niemic in 2002 was 173.
Davis was completely unaware of what he had just accomplished.
"No, no, I didn't even know. It doesn't feel any different," Davis said. "It's good to know. It would have been better if we had a win."
Despite the conference loss for Heidelberg (4-3, 0-2 Ohio Athletic Conference) Davis still came up big, scoring 15 points and collecting 17 boards, including 10 in the second half.
Capital took control early in a very slow paced first half, holding a lead over the Student Princes for more than 15 minutes.
Heidelberg coach Anthony Gholson noticed a tempo change from the teams normal fast paced play. "We struggled a little bit to get our tempo and that's part of Capital; Capital dictated the tempo," Gholson said.
Capital on the other hand benefitted from slow play.
"We've been starting slow all year long. We've had some bad starts and we had one today but that's the way we've been playing." Capital coach Damon Goodwin said.
Gholson also noted the Crusaders' physical attack against his team.
"Those guys are a lot more physical; our guys are a lot more skilled. So what happens is when you play against guys like that, you can't get into their bodies because you can't get caught in the middle of all that physicality; you gotta spread them out and you gotta go by them," Gholson said. "Well, we didn't do that."
The Crusader defense also left Heidelberg taking shots that were far from easy.
"Our shot selection was bad today, our shot selection was really bad. We took a lot of tough shots," Gholson said.
Goodwin felt the same way, recognizing his team's tough defense.
"We had to make them make tough shots," Goodwin said. "It was a defensively played game. We haven't been scoring so our trademark's to play good, tough defense and keep the games in the 50s and 60s and that's what we were able to do against them."
Capital was successful as Heidelberg shot just 31 percent from the field (22-69) and 11-24 from the free throw line.
The Crusaders led at halftime, 30-29, but Heidelberg came out aggressively in the second half and poured in 15 points in the first five minutes. It wasn't enough as Capital rallied back to even it at 49 with 10 minutes left.
"I think when we went up seven in the second half, that's when we have to take better shots," Gholson said. "It's gotta get sharper as the lead grows."
Davis, on the other hand, came out in the second half in a big way; soaring through the air with a one-hand dunk that had the whole gym roaring so loudly, it was like being at a rock concert.
Dunks are just one trademark you can expect to see when Davis is on the court. It's also another record he has a shot of getting before his college basketball career is over.
"I know one personal goal of mine that I wanted to go for was most dunks in a game. Lee Harris set it with five dunks in a game. So I wanted to do that," Davis said.
If tonight is any indication, he's well on his way.
