Wittenberg rally falls short at Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers played a near perfect first half of basketball, and even after struggling for nearly 15 minutes of the second half, they were within striking distance at 62-58. But the plague of turnovers and ill-advised shots that helped vaporize a nine-point Tiger halftime lead continued and the ninth-ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots ended the game on a 19-6 run to take control of the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season race with an 81-64 victory.

The Tigers, ranked No. 23 in the nation, controlled most of the first half, silencing the boisterous Wooster crowd after the Scots had claimed a 13-10 lead. Wittenberg hit nearly 48 percent of its shots from the field (13-for-27) to Wooster's 8-for-28 (.286) and owned a commanding 24-13 edge on the glass. The only thing that kept the Scots in the game was Wittenberg's penchant for turnovers, a rarity in 2002-03, as the Tigers finished the half with nine, compared to four for Wooster.

Wooster looked like an entirely different team in the second half as Kyle Witucky set the tone with a three-pointer less than 20 seconds after the break. That started a decisive 27-4 run in the first 8:51 of the second half. Wittenberg went without a field goal on eight attempts and turned the ball over six times in that stretch and fell behind by as much as 14 points.

The Tigers pulled within four points on two occasions late in the second half, including at 62-58 at the 5:17 mark, but Wooster sealed the game with 15 consecutive free throws in the final five minutes. Many of those came from Bryan Nelson, the NCAC Player of the Year candidate who torched Wittenberg for a career-high 37 points, including a school record 17 free throws in 18 attempts.

As a team, Wooster, which is ranked No. 9 nationally with records of 16-1 overall and 8-0 in the NCAC, outrebounded Wittenberg 35-33 (22-9 in the second half). Wittenberg, which shot just 32 percent from the field in the second half, including 1-for-9 from three-point range, was led by senior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who had his best all-around game of the season with a team-high 17 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes of action. Senior center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

No rest for the weary as the Tigers, who fell to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in the NCAC. They now must square off against Earlham and its up-tempo three-point shooting act at home on Wednesday night. Then they take to the road again next weekend for a contest at Allegheny, a team that is much improved and usually gives Wittenberg trouble on the road.