TIFFIN -- In a game of runs, the Heidelberg University men's basketball team succumbed to a late offensive outburst by Oberlin College and fell, 71-67.  The game marked the home opener for the Student Princes, whose 2019-20 schedule features 13 home contests.  

Heidelberg dropped to 1-2 on the young season while Oberlin improved to a perfect 4-0.

Heidelberg was paced by a near double-double from Prince Benson who knocked down 16 points and tallied a game-high nine rebounds. The rest of the HU offense was balanced as Tamal Watkins, Josh Dixon, Dylan Woods, and Emmanuel Perdue chipped in seven or more points. 

Alex Arellano added eight boards, two assists, and a block to go with his five points. 

The Student Princes struggled early, missing their first five shots from the floor, while Oberlin built out an 8-0 lead. After 4:49 of play, HU finally broke through with a scooping jumper from Alex Arellano. 

The Arellano bucket served as a wakeup call for Heidelberg as they quickly worked their way back into the game. Dylan Woods connected on back-to-back pirouetting jump shots to bring the game to 8-7. 

In short succession, the game was leveled at 11 on a layup from Prince Benson. Just before an Oberlin timeout, the Yeomen went back on top after a three-pointer from Wolf Moser. 

Another lengthy scoreless drought of close to five minutes for the Berg was halted on a pair of free throws by Coby Kelly. On their next possession, Kelly worked home a layup, making the score 23-15. 

Oberlin went hot for much of the half pushing their lead to as many as 15. Down 13, head coach Andy Bucheit called a timeout with 4:33 remaining that flipped the script.  

Out of the timeout, Heidelberg finished the half on a 11-2 run, led by a spark of energy from Tamal Watkins. Watkins was responsible for seven of The Berg's points over the run, including a critical three-point-play with 37 seconds remaining in the half, which set the score at 30-26 at the break. 

After the intermission, both sides came out playing fairly even basketball. The Student Princes held a slight advantage out-scoring the Yeomen 10-7 over the first 6:40 of the half, forcing Oberlin's head coach into a timeout. 

Out of the timeout, a technical foul on Oberlin allowed the Student Princes to tie the game as Phariz Watkins converted the free throw attempt. The tied score was the first since 11:39 mark of the first half.

Two possessions later, a scooping layup from Josh Dixon gave The Berg their first lead of the game at 39-38. 

The play kicked off a period of back and forth basketball that featured four lead changes and one tie. Unfortunately for Heidelberg, Oberlin benefited by the final lead change and built on their advantage, extending the game to 58-48 with four minutes left in the game.

Two timeouts from Bucheit allowed the Student Princes to close to within five in just under two minutes of play. Baskets from Benson and Dixon and a pair of free throws from Woods swung the tempo.

Out of the timeout, Dixon's jumper and Woods' step-back three-pointer sandwiched around a three from Oberlin trimmed the lead even further to 64-61 with 53 second remaining. 

In desperation mode, the Student Princes were forced to foul, thus sending the Yeomen to the line -- where they converted seven critical free throws. The trips to the line were enough to keep HU at arm's length as they converted each trip down the floor over the final moments. 

Oberlin was led by a 20-point performance from Joshua Friedkin. Two other Yeomen reached double-digits in scoring as Dorde Otasevic had 14 and Chrisitan Fioretti added 11. Jordan Armstrong was the leading rebounder for the visitors with seven. 

In all, Heidelberg held the edge on shooting percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, and blocks, but Oberlin converted on 52% of their three-pointers and scored 12 second-chance points, thus pushing them over the top. 

Heidelberg will return to the road this Saturday for a 3 p.m. matchup at Bluffton University.