Tigers Turn Tables on Perennial Powerhouse Ohio Northern With Hot-Shooting 85-67 Victory

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - A new, more assertive Wittenberg University men's basketball team seems to be emerging - and Tiger fans appreciate the difference. Led be the suddenly forceful Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading), the Tigers played their best game thus far in the 2003-04 season, an 85-67 pasting of longtime regional rival Ohio Northern at Wittenberg's HPER Center.

Wittenberg broke open a close game with a 14-0 run spanning four minutes in the first half. Trailing 15-11 at the 11:20 mark, senior Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) canned three straight jumpers, the final one being a three-pointer from deep on the wing to spark the outburst. After Ohio Northern's Jim Conrad stemmed the tide briefly with a jumper, junior Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle)drilled a three-pointer to start 14-5 half-ending run that gave Wittenberg a commanding 39-22 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Ohio Northern, which dropped to 5-3 on the season, could get no closer than 15 points of the hot-shooting Tigers. Wittenberg, which had lost the last two games in the series to the Polar Bears (both games were played in Ada), extended the lead to as much as 26 points. For the game, there were two keys - the Tigers shot the lights out with a season-best 62 percent from the field, including an unconscious 10-of-14 performance from three-point range, and Wittenberg dominated the glass, sweeping away 38 rebounds to ONU's 22.

Wittenberg, which improved to 6-3 overall, put together a tremendously balanced effort, sparked by Brady's 20 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs that made up his first career double-double. He hit 9-of-13 shots from the field, and he added three assists and one steal to the statistics sheet. Brady closed with a flurry, scoring Wittenberg's final 10 points of the game, hitting all four of his shots afield and adding a pair of free throws - all in the final 2:19. It was Brady's second straight outstanding performance in his second straight start after coming off the bench for the first seven games of the season. Lending support were the other four starters - senior Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, junior Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont)chipped in with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, Walker capped another stellar effort with 16 points and seven rebounds and sophomore Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) was a force in the paint with nine points, four rebounds, three assists and a career-high five blocked shots.

Ohio Northern got a game-high 28 points from Conrad, who also had three steals, two assists and two rebounds. Greg Badenhop was the only Bear player in double figures in scoring with 13 points.