Wittenberg Defeats Wabash in NCAC Tournament Semifinals

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The top-seeded and fifth-ranked Wittenberg University Tigers used a balanced offensive attack and a significant rebounding advantage to ease their way past the visiting Wabash College Little Giants, 71-54, in the second North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament game at the HPER Center. The win moved the Tigers into their 11th NCAC Tournament championship game in 15 years in the league.

Wittenberg improved to 24-3 overall with the win, the team's 20th in a row since a Dec. 10 loss to then-nationally ranked Otterbein. Wabash concluded the 2003-04 season with a 12-15 record after finishing fourth in the NCAC regular season standings and then gutting out a 73-68 home win in Tuesday's quarterfinals.

Despite appearances, the Tigers didn't bring their "A" game to the gym on Thursday and subsequently found themselves in a tussle until the late going. Wabash led much of the first half, pushing the lead to as many as 12 points, before two three-pointers by the Tigers' junior point guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) got things going for the regular season champions. Those two treys sparked a 16-1 run in which Wabash went seven minutes without a field goal. After Wittenberg went to the locker room with a 29-19 halftime advantage, Wabash could get no closer than seven points in the second half. Wittenberg slowly pushed the lead out to as much as 21 points before inserting the reserves in the game's closing moments.

Several obvious differences emerged from the stats sheet following the game, beginning with a significant disparity in fouls - 22 for Wabash and seven for Wittenberg, which led to 5-of-10 free throw shooting for the Little Giants and 18-of-22 from the line for the Tigers. Wittenberg wound up with a 36-22 rebounding advantage, but the Tigers were unable to put the game away because of uncharacteristically poor ball-handling - 22 turnovers (double their season average of 11.2) to the Little Giants' 12. But the hosts made up for it with excellent shooting, particularly from three-point range. Wittenberg finished 21-of-39 from the field (53.8 percent) and 11-of-17 from long range - good for a blistering 64.7 percentage.

Wittenberg was led offensively by junior guard Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle), who hit 4-of-5 three-pointers en route to 17 points. Sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) added 16 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, senior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier)chipped in with 10 point and eight boards and sophomore center Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) rounded things out with a terrific game off the bench, contributing six points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks.

Wabash picked up a game-high 22 points from Matt Storm as he hit 8-of-10 shots, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. No other Little Giant player finished with more than seven points, and no Wabash player collected more than two rebounds in the entire game.