Wittenberg Clinches Share of NCAC Title With Dramatic Road Win Over Wooster

WOOSTER, Ohio - In the highly-charged atmosphere of the College of Wooster's Timken Gymnasium Saturday night, the Wittenberg University Tigers accomplished one of the tallest of tasks when it comes to North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball, win on the Fighting Scots' home floor. The Tigers won for the 16th straight time, slipping past the Scots 73-62 for the second straight time in the 2003-04 season.

The win moved the Tigers to 20-3 overall, their fourth straight 20-win season, and 14-0 in the NCAC. It was Wittenberg's 20th consecutive NCAC regular season victory. Wooster dropped to 19-3 overall and 12-2 in the NCAC. The Scots and Ohio Wesleyan are tied for second place in the conference race, two games behind the Tigers, who clinched a share of their third regular season title in the last four years by sweeping Wooster. Wittenberg also clinched home court advantage for the NCAC Tournament due to tiebreakers.

The first half was an outstanding back-and-forth affair, with Wittenberg coming out on top by halftime, 38-32. Shooting percentage was the difference as the Tigers made 14-of-27 shots for 52 percent, including a blistering 6-of-9 from three-point range for 67 percent. Wooster was 12-of-28 from the field but just 3-of-12 from long range. The two teams were dead even in rebounds with 15 apiece and Wittenberg had one more turnover.

The biggest shot of the half came from Wooster's Tom Port, who drained a three-pointer to stop a 5-0 Wittenberg run at the 4:24 mark. The Scots were trailing by nine points at that point, and the trey gave the team much-needed momentum against the sharp-shooting Tigers, who closed the half with a clutch jumper in the lane by junior guard Kenny Molz (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont).

In the second half, among several huge shots for the Scots was a three-pointer by Port that again built momentum at a crucial point. Wooster fed off that energy to rally for their first lead since early in the first half and then hold it for much of the next few minutes. But the response came from senior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), who drained two clutch three-pointers, the first of which drew the Tigers within one point at the 7:11 mark and the second of which gave the Tigers what turned out to be an insurmountable 62-57 lead at the 1:43 mark. Other clutch offensive plays were turned in by sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), who hit two shots from close range to cap a seven-point run, Walker on a put-back basket, and sophomore forward Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading), who scored twice in the lane down the stretch despite picking up his fourth foul.

The Tigers were struggling from the free throw line until it counted most as they drained 11-of-12 shots from the charity stripe in the final three minutes, including a perfect 8-of-8 in the final minute. Wittenberg finished the game shooting 44.6 percent from the field, including 8-of-18 from three-point range, compared to 35.7 percent for the Scots, including just 5-of-26 from three-point range. With both teams committing just six turnovers, another key turned out to be rebounding. Wittenberg became just the second team all season to beat the Scots on the boards, claiming a 39-35 advantage.

Walker led all scorers and rebounders in the game with 18 points and nine rebounds, but he had plenty of help. Brady finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, Russ added 13 points, five boards and two blocked shots despite playing just 20 minutes due to foul problems. Junior guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) was superb again, finishing with five points, five assists and zero turnovers in 29 minutes at the point.

Wooster picked up 16 points and rebounds from Port, the likely NCAC Newcomer of the Year. Rodney Mitchell and P.J. McCloud added 10 points each. Port and Mitchell each were credited with three assists.