Senior forward named to All-Tournament team

HOLLAND, MI - Senior Malcolm Heard II scored a game-high 24 points in leading the Wilmington men's basketball team to the 83-60 victory over Lake Forest in the consolation game of the Holland Sentinel/Russ DeVette Tournament on the campus of Hope College.

Heard (Wilmington, OH/Wilmington) was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 17.0 points and 6.5 rebounds over the two-game holiday tournament. The forward added five rebounds and four assists in Saturday's victory.

He was one of three players to reach double figures for the Fightin' Quakers. Senior Ben Vonderhaar (Cincinnati, OH/Colerain) finished with 14 points, while junior Dwight Johnson (Dayton, OH/Jefferson) added 13 points and a season-high nine assists. Junior R.J. Leppert (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) added a team-high eight rebounds.

Wilmington (5-4 overall) returns to the hardwood 3 p.m. January 4 at Fred Raizk Arena against Ohio Athletic Conference foe Heidelberg.

The Fightin' Quakers scored the first seven points of the game, all off turnovers, but Lake Forest quickly battled back after a timeout. Each team responded with scoring runs as the Foresters took the lead with a 13-2 spurt and WC retook the advantage by scoring eight straight.

The teams continued to trade the lead back and fourth until Wilmington finally gathered the momentum with a 14-4 spurt late in the opening half.

Lake Forest trimmed its deficit to as little as four in the second half, but Heard scored nine straight points in the middle of WC's 20-4 game-clinging run.