No. 5 Tigers Take Down Brooklyn In Season Opener

Brooklyn, NY – The No. 5 Wittenberg men's basketball team ventured to the concrete jungle to begin their 2019-20 season, taking on the Brooklyn College Bulldogs. The Tigers fought off an early battle by the Bulldogs, taking a 42-40 advantage into the half. Wittenberg secured the win 87-78, outscoring Brooklyn 45-38 in the second half. The Red and White had three players finish the day putting up double-digit points, including Connor Seipel (33), Jake Bertemes (16), and Landon Martin (15). Seipel recorded his first double-double of the season, adding 18 rebounds to his total, pulling down nine boards at each end of the floor for the Tigers. James Johnson added eight points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots for the Red and White. Levi Boettcher provided six points and six assists, along with four rebounds off the bench for Wittenberg. Wittenberg knocked down 43 percent of their looks from the floor, including 10 of 23 from beyond the arc on the day.

Game Breakdown

Wittenberg was forced to make a bit of a comeback in the early stages, as Brooklyn jumped out to an early 10-4 advantage through the first four minutes. Back-to-back three-point buckets by the Tigers from Johnson and Bertemes knotted things back up at 10-10. Another three from the Tigers, this time from Rhashaad Ali Shakir put Wittenberg ahead 15-14, as the Red and White added to the advantage with a pair of made free-throws from Seipel. Back-to-back three's extended the Wittenberg advantage out to 25-19 with just under 10 minutes in the first half. Wittenberg fended off a late Brooklyn push, as Brooklyn made it 35-30 with a pair of made free-throws. Wittenberg knocked down 47 percent of their shots from the floor in the first half, including 7 of 13 from beyond the arc.

The Tigers started the second half with an offensive rebound and put-back layup by Seipel, putting Wittenberg ahead 44-40. Brooklyn battled it out through the early going of the second half, as Bertemes knotted the game up at 55-55 with just under 15 minutes left in the action. Martin knocked down a three with just under 10 minutes, giving the Tigers a 65-57 advantage. With Brooklyn refusing to give up the fight, Wittenberg converted on 45 percent of their attempts from the field in the second half, knocking down 10 of 16 attempts from the charity stripe. The Tigers won the battle on the boards both down the stretch and overall, as Wittenberg tallied 46 rebounds to Brooklyn's 28. Wittenberg has no issue with sharing the ball assisting on 22 of 32 made buckets.

From The Bench

"Always good to start the season with a win. Brooklyn has a good team and played very well. I thought our guys played with a lot of grit to pull out the W. Now we are looking forward to enjoying the rest of our stay in Brooklyn," said Head Coach Matt Croci.

UP NEXT

Wittenberg will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 23 making their home debut at Pam Evans Smith Arena against the Lions from Mount St. Joseph University. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM.