Wittenberg Stays Perfect in NCAC With Big Win Over Earlham
When the Wittenberg Tigers and the Earlham Quakers hook up on the basketball court, the contrast in styles is obvious. And over the last four seasons, Wittenberg's power inside game and stout defense has been far too much for the Earlham up-tempo and three-point shooting, as it was again on Wednesday night as the 21st ranked Tigers posted an 84-53 win on the Quakers' home court.
RICHMOND, Ind. - When the Wittenberg Tigers and the Earlham Quakers hook up on the basketball court, the contrast in styles is obvious. And over the last four seasons, Wittenberg's power inside game and stout defense has been far too much for the Earlham up-tempo and three-point shooting, as it was again on Wednesday night as the 21st ranked Tigers posted an 84-53 win on the Quakers' home court.
Wittenberg, which has won 39 of the last 41 meetings with Earlham, improved to 15-3 overall and 9-0 in the North Coast Athletic and remained a game ahead of the College of Wooster in the race for the regular season title. Earlham, which was playing without standout guard Brandon Miller due to injury, dropped to 7-11 overall and 4-5 in the NCAC.
The game was close through halftime, although Wittenberg's lead never dropped below five points after the Tigers raced out to a 13-2 lead in the game's opening five minutes. But in the second half, Wittenberg quickly stretched a 43-31 halftime advantage into a 66-36 rout with a 23-5 run in the first 10:30. The lead hit 34 points on several occasions late in the half before settling in at 84-53.
The Tigers outscored Earlham 28-8 in the paint and claimed a 38-28 rebounding advantage, two keys to the victory. Another key, as it has been throughout Wittenberg's 11-game win streak, was excellent guard play as the Tigers committed just seven turnovers in the game, with the starting unit accounting for just one ballhandling miscue. And finally, the Tigers shot the ball better than they have all season, draining 57 percent of their shots from the field, including 7-of-17 from three-point range. Earlham was forced into 31.5 percent from the field and 27 percent from three-point range on 26 attempts.
Senior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) led all scorers in the game with 19 points, followed by sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) with 14 points and sophomore forward Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading) added 10 points and a game-high six rebounds. All 15 players in uniform for Wittenberg played at least three minutes in the game.
Earlham picked up 17 points from Markous Jewett and 14 points from LaRon Henry in the loss. Jermaine Crumby added six points and six boards.