Tigers Ring In New Year In Style, Dispatch Huntingdon 75-62

Senior Alex Brandt scored 16 points in a 75-62 win over the Huntingdon Hawks at Maryville's Campbell Classic. File Photo/Erin Pence

MARYVILLE, Tenn. — The Wittenberg Tigers picked up in 2012 right where they left off in 2011, making an early lead stand up in rolling to a 75-62 victory over Huntingdon on the first day of the James C. Campbell Memorial Classic at Maryville College.

The win was Wittenberg's seventh in its last eight games following a 1-2 start to the 2011-12 season. The Tigers will shoot a fourth straight win and a 9-3 start to the campaign with a match-up against the host Scots of Maryville at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Unlike the two victories last week that wrapped up the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic at Wittenberg, the Tigers actually trailed — briefly — and didn't take control of the game until a 15-2 run over a five-minute span early in the second half.

Huntingdon, which fell to 1-8 on the season, scored the game's first basket, but the Tigers led for most of the opening 20 minutes and took a four-point edge into the locker room at halftime. After the Hawks scored the first basket of the second half, the Tigers finally took over, stretching a 30-28 lead to a commanding 45-30 advantage as senior Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) scored seven of his 16 points.

The lead was 20 points soon after and the Tigers coasted from that point. Brandt made all seven of his shots from the field and both free throws, and he added seven rebounds to the cause as well. His point total was topped only by senior Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster), who finished with 18 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Sophomore Zack Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford) added 17 points in 19 productive minutes off the bench. Also of note was the performance turned in by senior Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh), who stuffed the stats sheet with eight points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.