Wittenberg Completes Perfect NCAC Regular Season With 85-66 Win Over Allegheny

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The tone was set early as sophomore forward Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading) scored Wittenberg's first four points on putback baskets. Even though the visiting Allegheny College Gators matched those two baskets, the Tigers displayed plenty of muscle and enough offensive touch to pull away for an 85-66 victory at the HPER Center.

The win, on Senior Day at Wittenberg, was sweet for the Tigers for a variety of reasons. Guard Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) and forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) celebrated their day in style, hitting for eight and 15 points respectively. The totals pushed Emmons past the 700-point plateau for his career and put Walker in the elite 1,000-point company. He became the 27th player in Wittenberg men's basketball's illustrious history to reach that scoring figure.

Wittenberg improved to 22-3 with its 18th consecutive victory, dating back to a Dec. 10 defeat at the hands of nationally ranked Otterbein. The Tigers won for the 24th straight time in NCAC regular season action, dating back to Feb. 1, 2003 at Allegheny. And the Tigers finished the 2003-04 North Coast Athletic Conference regular season with a perfect 16-0 record for the second time in school history. The other perfect conference record was posted in 1993-94, a year in which the Tigers won their first 28 games before losing in the conference tournament title game to Kenyon and then advancing to the NCAA Division III semifinals before finishing third in the country.

Allegheny fell to 11-4 overall and 7-9 in the NCAC, good for fifth place. The Gators will travel to fourth-seeded Wabash on Tuesday for an NCAC Tournament quarterfinal game. Wittenberg will host the tournament as long as it is alive in it, starting with a quarterfinal match-up with eighth-seeded Denison on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m. in the HPER Center.

In improving to 28-9 all-time against Allegheny and sweeping the 2003-04 regular season series, Wittenberg snapped the aforementioned 4-4 tie with a three-pointer by junior point guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont). That sparked a 24-7 run over the next eight minutes, pushing the lead to 28-11. By halftime, it would reach 46-28 as Walker dropped in 13 points to lead all scorers and nine of the 10 Tigers to appear in the first half scored at least three points. In the second half, Allegheny could draw no closer than 13 points, thanks in large part to Wittenberg's 22-10 second-half rebounding advantage.

The Tigers shot 50 percent from the field, including 11-of-26 from three-point range. The biggest difference in the game was free throw shooting - Wittenberg was whistled for just seven personal fouls, compared to 22 for Allegheny. That translated into 5-of-7 from the free throw line for the Gators and 20-of-27 for the Tigers. Wittenberg finished with a 40-25 advantage in the rebounding department, including 17-11 in offensive caroms. Both teams took good care of the basketball as Allegheny committed just eight turnovers, including just one in the first half, and Wittenberg wound up with 11, including just three in the opening 20 minutes.

Wittenberg was paced offensively by Walker, who finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) added 10 points, three rebounds and four assists and Brady checked in with nine points, a game-high 10 boards and four assists. Fourteen of the 15 Tiger players who appeared in the game scored.

Allegheny picked up a game-high 18 points from Matt Magnusen and 12 more from Matt Majzlik. Ian Gainor added six points and six rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.