Wittenberg University's men's basketball team has received its first bid to the NCAA Division III tournament since 1997. The Tigers, the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season champions, will host a second-round game at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, March 3 at the HPER Center, They will face the winner of Thursday's first-round game between MacMurray (Ill.) and Maryville (Tenn.).
Wittenberg is making its 21st apperance, has won 40 games and made six trips to the national semifinals, all records for the Division III tournament. The Tigers were awarded the No. 2 seed in a six-team sub-regional bracket and one of 16 teams awarded first-round byes in the 48-team tournament.
Wittenberg spent much of the weekend wondering if they would even make the tournament. The Tigers had a 15-game winning streak snapped with a 59-56 loss to arch-rival Wooster in the finals of the NCAC tournament at the HPER Center. Wooster, with the win, captured the conference tournament for the third straight year, and along with it claimed the NCAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers took the No. 1 seed and homecourt advantage into the championship contest by virtue of victories of Oberlin (84-63 on Feb. 20) and Ohio Wesleyan (70-66 on Feb. 23).
Freshman forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) scored a season-high 16 points against Oberlin. Junior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood)scored seven points in the last 38 seconds against a young but hard-charging unit from Ohio Wesleyan to put the Tigers in the finals.
Wooster, which had lost both regular season meetings to Wittenberg, came out strong early. But Wittenberg battled back in the second half to take the lead on a three-point field goal by sophomore forward B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) with 13 minutes remaining. The lead then changed hands four times and included two ties heading into the final minute of action, when Wooster's Antwyan Reynolds knocked down a clutch three-pointer with 28 seconds remaining and the score tied at 56. Wittenberg then missed two free throws and two three-pointers in a final desperate flurry.
Two Tigers were selected to the all-tournament team. Junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) had 17 points and 12 rebounds and 42 points and 27 rebounds for the tournament. Senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) was limited to six points against Wooster, but scored 16 in the semifinals against Ohio Wesleyan.
In addition, Taylor, the team's leading scorer at 16.1 points per game, was named first-team All-NCAC for a second time on Tuesday. He was second team a year ago and first team in 1999. Taylor is also a strong candidate for NCAC Player of the Year honors, which will be announced on Monday, March 5.
Joining Taylor in receiving league recognition on Tuesday was sophomore forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who was a second team selection after pacing the Tigers in rebounding with almost nine per game. Senior center Chris Fillmore (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) was rewarded for his steady play in the middle as a second team pick after claiming first-team honors in 2000.