Tigers Ready To Get Started With 2003-04 NCAC Campaign
The Wittenberg men's basketball team was picked to finish second in preseason voting by coaches and media after the NCAC's 20th annual basketball media day. Defending NCAC champion Wooster took 27 first-place votes in the men's balloting, 20 of 24 from the media and seven of 10 from league coaches, to outdistance Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team was picked to finish second in preseason voting by coaches and media after the NCAC's 20th annual basketball media day. Defending NCAC champion Wooster took 27 first-place votes in the men's balloting, 20 of 24 from the media and seven of 10 from league coaches, to outdistance Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan. Both the coaches and the media predicted the Tigers would finish second and gave them a total of four first-place votes. Ohio Wesleyan picked up a first-place vote in both polls to finishing third behind Wittenberg.
The Tigers return seven letterwinners, including three starters, after a 20-6 overall record in 2002-03. The Tigers are the winningest team in NCAA Division III history with 1,458 victories since the 1911-12 season, and last year's 20-win season was the 47th consecutive non-losing campaign.
Wittenberg, the winningest men's basketball program in the history of NCAA Division III, returns seven letterwinners, including three starters, in 2003-04 in hopes of returning to the top of the NCAC for the third time in the last four years.
In 2002-03, the Tigers' two-year reign as NCAC regular season champions ended with a second-place finish. Still, the Tigers were able to achieve another 20-win season, compiling an overall record of 20-6, including a mark of 14-2 in the NCAC.
Seniors Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) and Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) will lead the charge in 2003-04. Walker, a 6-7 forward, was third on the team in scoring (10.3) and rebounding (4.5). He shot better than 50 percent from the field and a team-best 80 percent from the free throw line. Emmons, a 6-1 wing, started 24 of the team's 26 games, averaging a team-high 25.8 minutes per outing as well as 9.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. He posted a career-high 38 points in an overtime victory at Wabash, the highest point total for a Wittenberg player in more than 10 years.
Other returning letterwinners expected to vie for starting positions and key playing roles are junior point guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont), junior wing Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle), junior wing Brett Bowen (Arcadia, Ind./Hamilton Heights), junior guard Kenny Molz (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) and sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity).
Brywczynski started all 26 games and topped the team in assists with 58 while averaging 4.9 points. Bucheit ranked among the NCAC leaders in three-point shooting percentage (46.8) while averaging 9.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per outing. Bowen worked his way into the playing rotation by midseason and averaged 2.4 points and 1.3 rebounds. Molz was a valuable reserve at the point guard position, contributing 45 assists and 5.0 points per game. Russ proved to be one of the best freshmen in the conference as he appeared in all 26 games off the bench and averaged 8.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He also led the team in blocked shots with 21.