Wittenberg Loses On Last-Second Three-Pointer to Cedarville - Again

CEDARVILLE, Ohio - The Wittenberg University Tigers gave the second-ranked NAIA scholarship team all it could handle Tuesday night before falling on the road to the Cedarville University Yellow Jackets, 70-68. Before a charged crowd of more than 2,000 mostly Cedarville fans, the Jackets' Josh Gast hit the game-winning three-pointer for a second straight year.

In the first half, Wittenberg fell behind by as much as 12 points before rallying against the up-tempo Yellow Jackets to head into the locker room facing just a 40-36 deficit. The Tigers led just once in the opening 20 minutes, at 2-0 off an opening basket by sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), who went on to lead all scorers in the half with 14 points.

The second half was a much more even tempo, to the Tigers' liking, as both teams struggled early with their shooting and both offenses became more deliberate. Things broke open midway through the half, however, and the lead seesawed back and forth down to the final 17 seconds, when Gast hit his huge trey. That score came just 30 seconds after Tigers' junior guard Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) had drained a three-pointer to give Wittenberg a 68-67 lead.

For the game, Wittenberg shot 41 percent the field, compared to 52 percent by the sharp-shooting Yellow Jackets, who defeated NCAA Division I Wright State a week earlier. The rebounding battle was even at 34, Cedarville committed three more turnovers than Wittenberg and neither attempted many shots from the free throw line The difference was three-point shooting as the Tigers managed 8-of-24 for 33 percent while Cedarville hoisted 27 shots from beyond the arc, connecting on 11.

The Tigers, who fell to 3-2 overall heading into their North Coast Athletic Conference opener Saturday at Allegheny, were led by Russ with 21 points and eight rebounds. Bucheit added 18 points, 13 in the second half, five rebounds and three assists, and senior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) chipped in with 14 points, including 12 in a strong second half.

Cedarville improved to 7-1 on the season while putting three players in double figures, led by Anthony Delimpo's 16 points off the bench and Gast's 14, including 11 in the final eight minutes of the game.