Roundup: Tigers Take Two More Big Wins
The Tiger men's basketball team won't be mislabeled "Houdini-esque", but last week Wittenberg had to make a couple of escapes to remain alive in the hunt for an NCAC regular season championship.
The Tiger men's basketball team won't be mislabeled "Houdini-esque", but last week Wittenberg had to make a couple of escapes to remain alive in the hunt for an NCAC regular season championship. In wins over Ohio Wesleyan at home on Wednesday and Hiram on the road on Saturday, Wittenberg was forced to play some of its best basketball of the season to survive. The Bishops held an eight-point lead midway through the second half before Wittenberg finally kicked things in gear in the final 10 minutes of the game to claim a 68-58 victory. The Terriers trailed by as much as 24 points after Wittenberg played perhaps its finest half of basketball of the season, but they rallied to within five points with eight minutes to go before the Tigers closed strong again to record a 78-62 win.
Against Ohio Wesleyan, Wittenberg moved out in front early, only to have OWU go on a 6-2 run to close the first half and take a 30-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Bishops came out firing in the second, eventually stretching that lead out to 51-43 with 10:25 before Wittenberg stormed back and pulled ahead 55-53 on a clutch three-pointer by sophomore guard Kenny Molz (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) with 5:42 remaining. The Tigers outscored OWU 13-5 the rest of the way to pull out the victory.
The Tigers didn't shoot the ball well, but they did reverse a troubling recent trend, committing just seven turnovers in the game. Wittenberg also won the all-important rebounding battle, 43-30. The Tigers were led offensively by junior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), who topped the team in points for a third straight game with 17. Senior center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) added 14 points and nine rebounds, just missing his fourth double-double of the year. Senior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Against Hiram, Wittenberg trailed just once in the game, but that doesn't mean things were easy. First-half runs of 11-0 and 15-0 expanded the Tiger advantage to 38-15 with 5:15 remaining and the Tigers went into the locker room with a comfortable 42-21 advantage. But much like the game in Springfield a few weeks earlier, won by Wittenberg 93-75, the Terriers played a much better second half, cutting a 24-point lead to 56-51 with 8:19 left in the game. But Wittenberg closed the game with a 22-11 run to finally seal the deal.
As a team, Wittenberg shot 47 percent from the field and committed just 10 turnovers, but Hiram nearly matched those numbers with a field goal percentage of 40 percent and a mere seven ballhanding miscues. The difference was rebounding as Wittenberg won that battle 47-30 and free throws, as the Tigers attempted 32 shots, compared to Hiram's eight. Wittenberg made 19 free attempts, compared to seven for the Terriers.
Individually, the key to Wittenberg's success was the dominant inside presence of Harris, who recorded his fifth double-double of the season with game-highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds. He had plenty of help, however, as Walker added 16 points and seven rebounds, junior guard Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) came off the bench to contribute 10 points and six rebounds and sophomore forward Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) chipped in with 11 points and four boards. In addition, Longley continued to do yeomen's work inside, adding six points and 10 rebounds to the Tigers' cause.
This week starts with a challenging road game against Earlham, which absorbed an 82-46 loss at Wittenberg on Jan. 29 but came right back to defeat NCAC title contender Wabash. Then on Saturday, Wittenberg hosts sixth-ranked Wooster in the second round of the annual grudge match between the conference's two traditional powers. The Scots won the first game on Jan. 25, 81-64.