Wittenberg used a stunning second half to defeat No. 1 ranked Wooster, 94-80, Saturday night. The win extended the Tigers' winning streak to 13 straight games and clinched their first North Coast Athletic Conference regular season championship since 1997 and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, which starts Tuesday, Feb. 20.
For Wooster, ranked No. 1 in the country by d3hoops.com, the loss snapped a 44-game homecourt streak, the longest active streak in NCAA basketball. The Scots were also denied what would have been a record fourth consecutive outright NCAC title.
Wittenberg fell behind early 16-8, but rallied to take the lead briefly before Wooster went on a 9-2 run to take a 44-38 lead with 259 left in the first half. The Tigers came back with an 8-0 run to end the half and take a 46-44 lead into intermission.
The second half was a veritable Red Swarm as the Tigers opened the second half with a 16-5 run and allowed the Scots to only get as close as nine twice after that. Wittenberg, which hasn't been outrebounded all season and leads the nation in rebound margin at more than 14 per game, crushed Wooster on the boards, 58-25 for the game and 23-9 in the second half.
The heroes in the game were almost too many to count for Wittenberg. Sophomore forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) had 18 points and 17 rebounds, including 11 in the second half. Senior center Chris Fillmore (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) scored 18 points, including the Tigers first eight points of the game. Senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) added 17 points, including 14 in the second half. The Tigers ninth all-time leading scorer, Taylor has scored 41 points in two games against the Scots.
Freshman point guard Mark Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Alter) had another outstanding game against Wooster. After scoring a season high 21 points against the Scots on Jan. 20 in Springfield, Borland responded with 17 points, five assists and just three turnovers in 27 minutes on Saturday. He also did an oustanding defensive job on Wooster's leading scorer Antwyan Reynolds. Reynolds had 13 points, just 3.5 under his average, but shot just five-of-19 from the field and two-of-10 from three-point range. Junior backup center Brian Gratsch (Maderia, Ohio/Maderia) played probably his best game of the season. He played 14 minutes and was three-of-three from the field and four rebounds.
Wittenberg has won six NCAC regular season championships, four outright (1994-96-97-2000) and two shared (1992-93) and will be the No. 1 seed in the NCAC tournament. The Tigers also clinched their first 20 win season since 1997 and their first in a regular season since 1996.
The Tigers will host No. 8 seed Oberlin (7-17, 4-12) in the NCAC quarterfinals at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday at the HPER Center. If Wittenberg wins it would host the semifinals (Friday) and championship game (Saturday) of the tournament. A win on Tuesday would match the Tigers against Ohio Wesleyan (No. 4 seed) or Wabash (No. 5).
Wittenberg has an all-time record of 21-8 in the NCAC tournament, has won three championships (1990-91-96) and has been runner-up four times (1992-94-95-97).