On Saturday, the Wittenberg University Tigers made it a clean sweep over the College of Wooster Fighting Scots as both the men and women extended late-season winning streaks and improved their positioning for the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference tournaments.
On the men's side, it was the biggest game for Wittenberg in several years and the Tigers responded with perhaps their most dominating half of basketball of the season. Wittenberg overwhelmed the host College of Wooster Scots, ranked No. 1 in the country and owners of a national-best 44-game home court win streak, with tenacious rebounding and clutch shooting in capturing a 94-80 victory.
The Tigers trailed for most of the first half before exploding. Wittenberg closed the half on an 8-2 run as junior guard Chad Mossing made two free throws, freshman forward Peter Walker came off the bench to contribute a three-point play, freshman guard Mark Borland made a short jumper and sophomore forward B.J. Harris chipped in with a free throw. Then Wittenberg opened the second half on an 8-0 run as senior center Chris Fillmore hit two layups and Borland and senior forward Ryan Taylor each hit short jump shots to expand the lead to 54-44 lead.
From that point, it was a veritable Red Swarm. Wittenberg, which hasn't been outrebounded all season and leads the nation in rebound margin at more than 14 per game, crushed the host team on the boards 23-9 in the second half. For the game, the difference was a stunning 58-25.
The heroes in the game were almost too many to count for Wittenberg. Borland played 27 minutes and scored 17 points, dished out five assists and committed just three turnovers. Taylor, the team's leading scorer who ranks ninth on the school's all-time scoring list, adding 17 points, including a clutch 3-for-3 performance from three-point range. Longley added a monster game with 18 points and 17 rebounds, including six offensive boards and a 9-of-14 shooting night from the field. Fillmore, who scored the team's first eight points in the first half, finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore center Brian Gratsch had perhaps his finest game of the season, chipping in with eight points (3-for-3 FG) and four rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
The Tigers are now 21-2 overall and 15-1 in the NCAC, outright champions for the first time since the 1996-97 team completed a 14-2 regular season. That team went into the tournament as the top seed but was upset by third-seeded Wooster 51-44 on its home court.
Wittenberg heads into the NCAC competition with the No. 1 seed and will square off with No. 8 seeded Oberlin in the first round on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the HPER Center. A win there would propel the Tigers into the semifinals against the winner of Tuesday's first-round game between fourth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan and fifth-seeded Wabash.