TIFFIN, Ohio—A jumper by freshman Nate Jacubec (Struthers/Struthers) gave the Mount Union men's basketball team a 91-89 overtime victory over Heidelberg to complete a second half rally. Senior Jimmy Wood (Wintersville/Indian Creek) poured in a career-high 39 points as the Purple Raiders clinched the No. 7 seed in next week's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament with the win.

The Purple Raiders (11-14, 7-11) trailed by as many as 17 points in the first half when Nate Davis converted a layup to give the Student Prince a 37-20 lead with 4:17 remaining. The Raiders responded with a 9-0 row after Justen Little (Galion/Galion), T.J. Gillespie (Toledo/St. John's), and Wood each made three-pointers on consecutive possessions. The Berg took a 41-31 lead into halftime.

The Raiders gradually chipped away at Heidelberg's lead throughout the second half, but the Student Prince always had a response to maintain the lead. A three-pointer by Wood with 17 seconds remaining tied the game at 78 and Gillespie blocked a last-second three-point attempt to extend the game to a third stanza.

Little opened the overtime period with a three-pointer before Heidelberg tallied seven of the next eight points. A three-pointer by Wood tied the game at 85 with just over two minutes to play and the teams exchanged baskets twice, setting the stage for Jacubec's heroics. After calling a timeout, Heidelberg turned the ball over on its final possession.

Wood scored 28 of his 39 points after halftime, went five-of-ten on three-point tries, and grabbed a team-best six rebounds. Little also tallied a career-high with 15 points. Jacubec, who made big shots in Wednesday's win over Baldwin-Wallace, was more of a distributor, as he recorded five assists to go with 11 points. Stevie Griffin (Canton/Massillon Jackson) added 13 points and Gillespie had 10 points off the bench.

The Raiders connected on 11 three-pointers, giving them 196 makes on the season to surpass the old record of 189 in the 2008-09 season.

Heidelberg (7-18, 5-13) got 36 points and six assists from Dane Givner. Nate Davis and Victor Fortkamp came off the bench to score 14 points apiece. Davis added a game-high 10 rebounds.

Mount Union plays at Ohio Northern Monday at 7:30 pm in the opening round of the OAC Tournament.

Newspaper Box Score

Mount Union vs Heidelberg
2/18/12 3 p.m. at Seiberling Gymnasium; Tiffin, Ohio
At Seiberling Gymnasium; Tiffin, Ohio

MOUNT UNION 91, HEIDELBERG 89

MOUNT UNION (11-14 (7-11 OAC))
Jimmy Wood 14-23 6-8 39; Justen Little 5-5 3-5 15; Stevie Griffin 4-7 4-5
13; Nate Jacubec 5-13 0-0 11; T.J. Gillespie 4-10 0-0 10; Keith Williams 1-1
0-0 2; Matt Piloto 0-1 1-4 1; Matt Wier 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Kiger 0-0 0-0 0;
Jimmy Darnley 0-0 0-0 0; Clayton Patton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-61 14-22 91.

HEIDELBERG (7-18 (5-13 OAC))
Dane Givner 12-18 10-11 36; Nate Davis 7-11 0-0 14; Victor Fortkamp 6-9 2-2
14; Quintin Aden jr. 2-6 1-2 7; Lee Renner 2-4 0-0 5; Mike Petrie 1-3 0-0 3;
Casey Kaufman 1-1 0-0 3; Jordan Turner 1-2 1-1 3; Pat Barrett 0-3 2-2 2;
Chris Jefferies 1-3 0-0 2; Justin Hershberger 0-0 0-0 0; Bryan Crawford 0-0
0-0 0; Zane Wildermuth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-61 16-18 89.

Mount Union...................   31   47   13  -   91
Heidelberg....................   41   37   11  -   89

3-point goals--Mount Union 11-26 (Jimmy Wood 5-10; Justen Little 2-2; T.J.
Gillespie 2-5; Nate Jacubec 1-5; Stevie Griffin 1-4), Heidelberg 7-18 (Dane
Givner 2-5; Quintin Aden jr. 2-5; Lee Renner 1-2; Mike Petrie 1-2; Casey
Kaufman 1-1; Pat Barrett 0-2; Nate Davis 0-1). Fouled out--Mount Union-None,
Heidelberg-None. Rebounds--Mount Union 26 (Jimmy Wood 6), Heidelberg 35
(Nate Davis 10). Assists--Mount Union 9 (Nate Jacubec 5), Heidelberg 17
(Dane Givner 6). Total fouls--Mount Union 14, Heidelberg 16. Technical
fouls--Mount Union-None, Heidelberg-None.