Tigers Claw Back, but Fall Short Against #8 Ohio Wesleyan

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio-- The Tigers faced off against the number eight team in the country Wednesday night Ohio Wesleyan, falling 77-70. Wittenberg got off to a slow start but managed to comeback in the second-half and take Ohio Wesleyan deep in to the game before falling short. The Tigers could not get out of their own way against their NCAC opponent, surrendering double-digit turnovers in the single digit loss.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• Wittenberg got off to a slow start Wednesday night, scoring its first basket at the 14:34 mark in the first half, as a Chad Roy (Toledo, Ohio / Holland Springfield) layup ended the Bishops 11-0 run.
• After the scoring drought concluded, the Tigers went on a 10-0 run of their own, putting the game at 11-10 with 11 minutes remaining in the first-half.
• Despite trailing 38-25 at the break, Jaelin Williams (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee)managed to net 11 points and pull down five boards before halftime.
• After trailing by as many as 17 points for most of the second half, the combination of tough defense and timely three-pointers from Zach Brashear (Maineville, Ohio / Kings) Alex Fultz (Cincinnati, Ohio / Glen Este) and Cody Phillippi (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) pulled the Tigers to within five points, as OWU led 64-59 with four minutes remaining in regulation.
• With under a minute of play and trailing by eight, another Phillippi three brought Wittenberg back to within five, trailing 70-65 with 55 seconds remaining in the game.
• The Tigers could not capitalize on their opportunities in crunch time, letting the game go to free-throws, as the final buzzer sounded with OWU on top 77-70.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Williams recorded his first double-double of the 2015-16 season, dropping 23 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for the Tigers.
• For the game, Wittenberg shot nearly 50-percent from the floor and shot exactly 50-percent from behind the three-point arc.
• The Tigers turned the ball over 23 times in the game, as 15 of these turnovers came in the first-half.

KEY STATS

• OWU was able to capitalize on Wittenberg's turnovers, netting 26 points off of their takeaways.
• The Tigers outrebounded OWU 41-28, while the Bishops recorded 13 steals to the Tiger's four.
• Roy had another night that included an excellent offensive second-half, finishing the game with 14 points and six rebounds for Wittenberg.
• Wittenberg moves to 8-4 on the season and 3-2 in NCAC play.

FROM THE BENCH

• "The game is too difficult to inflict wounds on yourself, and that is what we did over and over again tonight. One of our special points of interest going in to tonight's game was to get the ball inside and to the low block, we missed opportunities to do this…Hats off to Ohio Wesleyan, but I still feel that our defensive efforts aren't where they should be, "said Coach Brown.  

UP NEXT

• Wittenberg is back in NCAC action this Saturday, Dec. 9 at 4:00 p.m. against Hiram, at Pam Evans Smith Arena.

Written By: Kuris Duggan