Men's Basketball Falls at Home to Big Red

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—The Tigers dropped a home NCAC matchup to Denison Saturday night, 69-59. The Tigers got into foul trouble early and could not stop the Big Red's barrage of three-pointers in the loss. Wittenberg was led by Jaelin Williams (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) who netted 15 points and also pulled down eight boards. Cody Phillippi (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) chipped in 13 points for the Tigers, who shot 43% from the floor Saturday night. The loss puts the Tigers at 12-7 overall on the season and 7-5 in NCAC play.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• At the break, the Tigers trailed 32-29 despite Phillippi's ten first-half points.
• Coming back on to the floor in the second half, Wittenberg managed to keep things close early, but could not get the lead to within striking distance for most of the second half.
• Williams hit a layup with 7:22 reamaining in regulation to cut the lead to 52-46.
• The Tigers would not score again until the 4:18 mark, as Chad Roy (Toledo, Ohio/ Holland Springfield) got to the rim for a layup to make the game 61-48 Big Red.
• Wittenberg could not fend off Denison's three-point barrage, as the final buzzer sounded with the home team down 69-59.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Wittenberg turned the ball over 15 times in the loss, while Denison only suffered seven.
• These turnovers proved costly for the Tigers, as Denison capitalized with 18 points
• The Tigers were 42.9% from the floor as a team, but only 20% from behind the three-point arc.

KEY STATS

• The home team outrebounded Denison 41-27 on the night.
• Wittenberg's largest lead was four, in a game that saw one tie and two lead changes.

UP NEXT

• The Tigers return to action Wednesday, February 3, as they hit the road and travel to Ohio Wesleyan for a 7:30pm NCAC matchup.

Written By: Kuris Duggan