BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In a game that lived up to the madness that is March Madness, the Heidelberg University men's basketball team came up on the wrong end of a 90-86 thriller in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday.  The Student Princes gave 14^th-ranked UW-La Crosse all they could handle, but it was the Eagles that survived in the end.

Heidelberg saw their season come to an end with an 18-8 record while UW La-Crosse improved to 21-6 and advanced to the second round on Saturday.

Emmanuel Perdue did all he could to will the Berg back in the end, scoring eight of the final nine points of the game for HU, but it was not quite enough.  Perdue finished with a team-high 28 points on 70.6% shooting.  Isaiah Young (14 points), Tre Watkins (13 points), and Dylan Woods (10 points) scored in double-figures as well to help pace the offense for the Student Princes.

Both teams shot over 50% from the floor and over 40% from 3-point range in the contest, including the Berg making their first seven treys of the contest.  The Student Princes forced the Eagles into 16 turnovers in the game, however they were outrebounded 40-25 and shot just 50% (7-14) from the free throw line.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Making just their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the Student Princes looked very comfortable out of the gate, soaring out to a 10-point lead after a layup by Young at the 15:05 mark of the first half.  From there the game would tighten up, however, as UW-La Crosse battled back and regained the lead with 10:32 to go in the half, 26-25.  The two high-powered offenses would go back and forth for much of the rest of the first half, as there were 5 lead changes before the Berg went into half trailing 49-43.

The Eagles stretched their lead out to eight early in the second half, but HU came right back and took a 60-58 lead with 13:44 left to play following a 3-pointer by Zane Leitwein.  From that point on, neither side led by more than four the rest of the way.  A jumper by Perdue knotted the game up at 81 with 2:33 remaining, but UW-La Crosse answered with an old fashioned three point play to take a lead they would not relinquish down the stretch.  The Eagles went 4-for-5 from the free throw line down the stretch, and the one they missed resulted in an offensive rebound as the Student Princes came up just short in the end.

NOTABLE QUOTES

 
Head coach Andy Bucheit on the NCAA Tournament appearance and the impact the upperclassmen have had on the program: "It was a tremendous opportunity to be here.  Our guys fought all year.  We battled adversity, specifically with injuries throughout the season.  Countless guys stepped up, so for us to get to this point is a tremendous achievement.  We had a group of guys who believed in us four or five years ago when there wasn't much to believe in, and they've certainly left the program better than they found it.  We're just really proud of where we've been able to get to over the last four to five years of their leadership."

Bucheit on the hot start and how the game played out: "At that percentage and that rate I thought, ok, we're locked in today, and it's gonna be tough to beat us.  La Crosse played a tremendous game as well and it was a see-saw battle as everybody saw back and forth.  I knew it was gonna go down to the last couple possessions just seeing the way both teams were playing."

Emmanuel Perdue on his confidence in his game: "It just came from studying a lot of my favorite players and countless reps with my dad and my brother back home.  I just go in thinking that I put in enough work to where I've shot like this so when they contest, I'm comfortable because of all of the reps I've put in."