Hosted by Wittenberg University

Friday, December 29, 2000

First Round
6 p.m.Hanover College (10-0) def. Kalamazoo College (4-7)88-60


The Hanover College Panthers used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to break open a close game and set the stage for a comfortable 88-60 victory over the Kalamazoo College Hornets in the first game of the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Men's Basketball Holiday Classic. The Panthers, ranked No. 22 in the latest D3Hoops.com national poll, improved to 10-0 for the first time since the start of the 1981-82 season, while Kalamazoo lost for the fourth time in five games in dropping to 4-7 on the season.

With the score tied at 23, Brian Bowen drained a 3-point shot to jumpstart the Panthers' 13-point burst. Hanover moved out to a 45-33 lead by halftime, and then the Panthers put things away early in the second half, outscoring their foes 15-6 in the first eight minutes to open a 21-point bulge. Sophomore guard Derrick Clevenger came off the bench to pour in 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, including a 5-of-6 performance from three-point range. Steve Siebenmorgen also came off the bench to pour in 17 points, while starting center Joe Neuman finished with 15. Hanover shot 58.3 percent for the game from the field and 90.9 percent from the free throw line in a tremendous offensive display.

Kalamazoo shot the ball fairly, hitting 21-of-44 from the field (47.7 percent) and 10-of-21 from three-point land (47.6 percent). But the Hornets lost the battle of the boards 34-13 and made just 8-of-15 from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Scott Montmorency topped the Hornets with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field.

Box Score Hanover 88, Kalamazoo 60

8 p.m.Wittenberg University (7-1) def. Beloit College (2-4)83-63

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.

Box Score Wittenberg 83, Beloit 63

Saturday, December 30, 2000

Consolation Game
6 p.m.Kalamazoo College (5-7) def. Beloit College (2-5)87-77

The Kalamazoo College Hornets bounced back from a disappointing loss to Hanover College in the first round of the Holiday Classic to post a record-breaking 87-77 victory over the Beloit College Buccaneers in the tourney's consolation game. Kalamazoo, which set a tournament record with a 27-of-29 (93.1 percent) free throw shooting performance, improved to 5-7 with the win, while Beloit, which led 37-36 at halftime, lost for the fifth time in seven outings in 2000.

Kalamazoo was paced offesnively by guard Dirk Rhinehart, who topped all scorers with 26 points and was later named to the all-tournament team. Rhinehart hit 6-of-10 three-pointers in the game, a night after canning all three of his attempts against Hanover. But the key to the win was free throws, particularly in the second half. Guard Doug Lepisto hit all eight of his shots from the charity stripe en route to a 14-point, six-assist performance, and forward Scott Montmorency was 4-of-4 from the line on his way to 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Beloit had four players in double figures, led by guard Jonathan Allen and center Matt Entwistle, who each finished with 14 points. Forward Marques Flowers dropped in 12 points, while forward Henry Grant and guard Dejuan Shorter finished with 11 each. Grant also added a game-high eight rebounds.

Box Score Kalamazoo 87, Beloit 77

Championship Game

8 p.m.Wittenberg University (8-1) def. Hanover College (10-1)57-45

The host Wittenberg University Tigers used a 13-5 burst to close the game and stave off a stern challenge from the Hanover College Panthers, winning the championship game of the 2000 Kiwanis-Wittenberg Men's Basketball Holiday Classic 57-45. The Tigers won for the fourth straight time to improve to 8-1, while the Panthers, ranked No. 22 nationally in the latest D3Hoops.com poll, dropped to 10-1 on the season.

Wittenberg got another MVP performance from senior Ryan Taylor. Also the MVP of the 1998 Classic, Taylor scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds to go along with his 16-point game in the Tigers' Round 1 win over Beloit. Joining Taylor on the all-tournament team were sophomore forward Kevin Longley, who played big underneath the basket with a tournament-best 13 rebounds, and freshman point guard Mark Borland, who saved the best for last by coming off the bench for a clutch three-pointer and 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final three minutes of the game.

Hanover, which was off to its best start in 20 years at 10-0 coming into the game, got a tremendous game off the bench from forward Jess Denger. He had 19 points for the cold-shooting Panthers, including 3-of-4 from three-point land. He was joined on the all-tournament team by starting center Joe Neuman, who had nine points and six rebounds after dropping in 15 points in the Round 1 victory over Kalamazoo.

Box Score Wittenberg 57, Hanover 45

2000 Kiwanis-Wittenberg Men's Basketball Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team

Ryan Taylor, Wittenberg (MVP)
Kevin Longley, Wittenberg
Mark Borland, Wittenberg
Jess Denger, Hanover
Joe Neuman, Hanover
Dirk Rhinehart, Kalamazoo