Tigers Take Home Kiwanis Title Over Hanover

The host Wittenberg University Tigers used a 13-5 burst to close the game and stave off a stern challenge from the Hanover College Panthers, winning the championship game of the 2000 Kiwanis-Wittenberg Men's Basketball Holiday Classic 57-45. The Tigers won for the fourth straight time to improve to 8-1, while the Panthers, ranked No. 22 nationally in the latest D3Hoops.com poll, dropped to 10-1 on the season.

Wittenberg got another MVP performance from senior Ryan Taylor. Also the MVP of the 1998 Classic, Taylor scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds to go along with his 16-point game in the Tigers' Round 1 win over Beloit. Joining Taylor on the all-tournament team were sophomore forward Kevin Longley, who played big underneath the basket with a tournament-best 13 rebounds, and freshman point guard Mark Borland, who saved the best for last by coming off the bench for a clutch three-pointer and 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final three minutes of the game.

Hanover, which was off to its best start in 20 years at 10-0 coming into the game, got a tremendous game off the bench from forward Jess Denger. He had 19 points for the cold-shooting Panthers, including 3-of-4 from three-point land. He was joined on the all-tournament team by starting center Joe Neuman, who had nine points and six rebounds after dropping in 15 points in the Round 1 victory over Kalamazoo.