UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS -- The Heidelberg University men's basketball team escaped the DeCarlo Varsity Center with a 76-74 victory over John Carroll on Tuesday night.  Playing minutes away from where he grew up, Emmanuel Perdue scored 26 points for the Student Princes, who rallied from an 11-point deficit to pick up their 15th win of the season.  

John Carroll's Eric Hanna had two 3-pointers rim in and out in the 40 seconds of play, the second of which came at the buzzer.  Hanna had 23 points in the loss.  

Heidelberg improved to 15-3 overall, 10-2 in the conference -- the highest win totals in both categories during the Andy Bucheit Era (2013-present). The mark matches the best record through 18 games in program history, equalling the start of the vaunted 1983-84 team coached by John Hill.  

With 16 points, Isaiah Young was the only other Student Prince to join Perdue in double figures.  

Playing 23 hours earlier than scheduled because of the impending winter storm, The Berg was sluggish out of the gate.  HU shot 2-for-13 from deep (15.4%) in the first half and fell behind by 11 with five minutes left in the opening period.  HU still trailed by 10 two minutes before halftime, but closed on a modest 7-2 run.  After two buckets by Perdue, Young hit a three from the wing with 3.9 seconds left.

The hosts held tough in the second half and led 60-55 with nine minutes to play.  A three-point play by Perdue ignited a 12-2 run that pushed Heidelberg up by 5 with 5:13 left.  

Hanna tied the game at 74 with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:34 remaining.  On the ensuing possession, Perdue was fouled as he drove down the right side of the lane.  The lefty sank both free throws, giving HU a two-point lead with 1:12 remaining.  

Both teams came up empty on their next possession and JCU took a timeout with 54 seconds left.  Hanna had the ball roll around the rim on a 3-pointer in from the corner that would have given JCU the lead.  On the other end, Heidelberg drained nearly the entire 30-second shot clock off before Perdue hoisted a 3-pointer that drew front iron.  JCU corralled the loose ball and took a timeout with 8.9 seconds left.  

William Wallace brought the ball into the forecourt, but his pass toward a wide-open Mason Trubisky off a screen in the paint was deflected by Eric Panning.  Wallace, who was fortunate the ball caromed back toward him, fired to Hanna on the right wing.  With Perdue and Zane Leitwein closing hard, Hanna launched a off-balanced 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds left.  As the horn sounded, the ball clanked off the inside of the front part of the rim and ricocheted off the backboard before falling harmlessly to the hardwood.  

Leitwein had seven points and a game-high nine rebounds for Heidelberg.  With nine points to go along with a game-high four assists, Dylan Woods moved into 19th place on the program's all-time scoring list.  Now with 1,139 points, he surpassed Marc Streeter's 1,136 points accumulated between 1984-1988.  

Heidelberg has won three straight and four of its last five games.  

After digging out from Winter Storm Landon, the Student Princes will host Muskingum University on Saturday as part of a doubleheader.  The women's game is slated for 2 p.m., with the men's game to start 30 minutes after the conclusion.  The men's and women's team will also host an alumni game on Saturday morning.  

Photo by Aislyn McQueen