The host Wittenberg University Tigers opened defense of their Kiwanis-Wittenberg Men's Basketball Holiday Classic with a strong 20-point first round victory over the Beloit College Buccaneers. The Tigers, playing for the first time since a Dec. 17 victory at Allegheny College, improved to 7-1 with the victory, while Beloit, which came in riding a modest two-game win streak, dropped to 2-4 overall.

Wittenberg opened the game by scoring the first 13 points, and the outcome was never really in doubt. The Tigers never allowed the Buccaneers to pull closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Five players were in double figures, led by senior forward Ryan Taylor's 16 points. Also putting up big numbers in the scoring column for the Tigers were sophomore forward Kevin Longley (10), junior guard Greg Rustad (13), sophomore forward B.J. Harris (11) and freshman forward Peter Walker (10), who also came off the bench to grab a team-high eight rebounds.

The Buccaneers were held to 30 percent shooting in the game and never managed to cut into Wittenberg's lead. Guard Jonathan Allen scored a game-high 23 points, while leading scorer Henry Grant contribued 10 points and nine rebounds.