Roundup: Wittenberg Basketball Settles into a Winning Pace

The Wittenberg University Tigers may have finally found the range. At least Head Coach Bill Brown hopes so.

On Jan. 3, the Tigers lost a disappointing road game at Otterbein College, 74-69. In that game, Wittenberg never put it all together, going on spurts and showing just flashes of the defensive intensity and offensive execution that had allowed the Tigers to capture the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Holiday Classic a few days previous.

On Jan. 6, Wittenberg returned to North Coast Athletic Conference action and managed to turn away a scrappy outfit from Ohio Wesleyan University, the same crew that had ambushed the Tigers a month earlier in Delaware. In that game, senior Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) redeemed himself with a 25-point, five-rebound performance after struggling in the earlier loss at Ohio Wesleyan. Taylor was joined in double figures against OWU, which set an NCAC record with 19 three-pointers in the game, by junior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), sophomore center Brian Gratsch (Madeira, Ohio/Madeira) and senior center Chris Fillmore (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton).

Leading the charge in a lackluster Jan. 10 victory over Denison University was sophomore forward/center Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who dropped in 14 points to go along with six rebounds. He was the lone Tiger player to reach double figures in the game as 15 players saw action and 13 scored at least two points.

Brown hopes the turning point may have finally come on Jan. 13 at Kenyon College as the Tigers exploded for a 92-47 victory. Wittenberg shot a season-best 62.7 percent from the field in the game, outrebounded the Lords 40-20 and had 14 players find their way into the scoring column. Taylor, who is second in the conference in scoring with 18.3 points per game and tops the NCAC in three-point field goal percentage at .514, led the way with 21 points, while Longley, who is sixth in rebounding at 7.8 boards per game, chipped in with 13 and Rustad, No. 2 in the NCAC in three-point percentage at .489, added 11.

The three-game win streak moves the Tigers back out to 11-2 overall on the 2000-01 season and 5-1 in the NCAC heading into a crucial week. First, Wittenberg visits the third-place Wabash Little Giants on Wednesday. And then on Saturday, the Tigers play host to the nationally ranked, NCAC leading College of Wooster Fighting Scots.