Wittenberg takes an 11-game winning streak on the road this week for the final two games of the regular season. The Tigers, tied for first in the NCAC with Wooster, travel to Earlham on Wednesday then head to Wooster on Saturday.
Wittenberg defeated Earlham 81-65 in Springfield on Jan. 31, but will need to exercise the demons of a 95-88 triple-overtime loss last year in Richmond.
Saturday's game at Wooster will likely decide the NCAC regular season champion and top seed in the conference tournament starting Feb. 20. The Tigers snapped the Scots' 41-game NCAC winning streak with a 90-83 win in Springfield on Jan. 20 and will set aim Saturday on Wooster's 44-game homecourt winning streak, the longest active in all of NCAA basketball.
The Tigers finished the home portion of their regular season undefeated (12-0) last week, defeating Wabash 97-73 on Feb. 7 and slipping past Allegheny 74-71 on Feb. 10.
Against Wabash, Wittenberg fired in a school-record 19 three-point goals, tying the NCAC record that Ohio Wesleyan set at Wittenberg on Jan. 6. The Tigers shot 58.5 percent (38-of-65) from the field and 63.3 percent (19-of-30) on three-point goals.
Senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) led the Tigers with a game-high 24 points, including six treys. It was Taylor's eighth 20-plus point game of the season, but the first in five games.
Senior center Chris Fillmore (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) had 10 points, a game- and season-high 11 rebounds, and eight assists. He was just two assists away from becoming the first Wittenberg player ever to record a triple-double.
Junior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) added 12 points on four treys and sophomore forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) contributed 10 points and six rebounds.
Allegheny had lost five of its last six games, including losses of 45 and 23 to Wooster, coming into Saturday's game. But the Gators held a 32-29 halftime lead, then came almost all the way back from a 65-54 deficit with 537 left.
Wittenberg needed one free throw from sophomore backup center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) and two from backup guard Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Springfield) in the final 48 seconds after Allegheny had tied the game at 71.
Taylor was the only Tiger in double figures with 15 points, moving him into 10th place on Wittenberg's all-time scoring list with 1,328 points. He needs just 10 points to pass Tom Weller (1,337 points from 1985-88) for ninth place.
Longley added a game- and team season-high 16 rebounds against Allegheny.
Wittenberg, which has not been outrebounded this season, remained second for the third straight week in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional rankings, just behind Ohio Athletic Conference leader Ohio Northern and just ahead of Wooster. In the most recent Division III national statistics (through Feb. 4), Wittenberg was ranked first in rebound margin, second in scoring margin (behind Wooster) and 18th in three-point goal percentage. Individually, Taylor was fifth in three-point field goal percentage.