Wittenberg wallops Earlham for second straight time

RICHMOND, Ind. - The Wittenberg Tigers played one of their finest games of the year Wednesday night at Earlham, crushing the third-place Quakers by a stunning 82-39 margin. The win improved Wittenberg to 16-5 overall and 11-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference heading into Saturday pivotal showdown at home against sixth-ranked and conference-leading Wooster.

The Tigers were never challenged in this one, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first four minutes and eventually stretching the advantage to 33-14 by halftime. The Quakers were forced into just 18.5 percent shooting from the field, compared to 52 percent for the Tigers, in the first half. The second half was even more of the same as Wittenberg pounded the glass to end up with a 46-29 rebounding advantage and the 82-39 victory on the scoreboard.

Wittenberg was paced by senior center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins), who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds. He was joined in dominating the paint area by senior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) with 12 points and six boards and freshman center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) with 12 points and 13 rebounds for his first career double-double.

Twelve of the 14 Wittenberg players who saw action in the game scored at least one point and 10 of the 14 had at least one rebound. The Tigers limited their turnovers to just 13 in the game, and they finished with a solid 52 percent shooting night from the field and 77 percent shooting night from the free throw line.

Earlham was paced by this week's NCAC Player of the Week, Nathan Stoops, who finished with nine points.

Next up for Wittenberg is one of the two games everyone points to annually in the NCAC, Wooster's annual pilgrimage to Springfield. The Scots are in command of the conference race at 21-1 overall and 13-0 in the NCAC, but the Tigers, who fell to Wooster 81-64 on the road on Jan. 25, can build some valuable momentum, score big points with the NCAA Division III Tournament selection committee and possibly climb back into the regular season hunt with a win Saturday. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. in the HPER Center.