Rustad
Gratsch
Mossing
It was back to business for the Wittenberg Tiger men's basketball team last week, and back to their usual form as well. After playing a tough stretch of conference games, including an exciting 75-70 win over arch-rival Wooster on Jan. 26, the Tigers put together a pair of dominating performances last week in defeating Earlham on Wednesday and Allegheny on Saturday.
The two wins moved Wittenberg to 11-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, tied with Wooster, which hosts the Tigers in their annual regular season finale on
Feb. 16. Both teams have three conference games remaining between now and then, including a game for the Tigers at fourth-place Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday and a game against the third-place team, red-hot Wabash, on Saturday for the Scots.
Last week against the Quakers, Wittenberg held its hosts scoreless for the first eight minutes of the game, and coasted from that point to a 70-38 win. The Tigers punished Earlham with their strong inside game as both junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) and junior center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) had double-figure scoring nights. Longley had his best scoring night of the season, hitting for 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Harris, the team's leading scorer and rebounder, had another fine all-around game with 10 points and nine boards, just missing his eighth double-double of the season. He also had a season-high three blocks.
Wittenberg led 11-0 through the first eight minutes of the game and held a 28-16 advantage by halftime. The Tigers, who shot just below 50 percent while holding the Quakers to just 25.5 percent shooting for the game, then outscored Earlham 42-22 in the second half.
Returning home on Saturday, the Tigers did all the little things they had to do in capturing an 86-61 home victory over the Allegheny Gators. After Allegheny pulled to within three points with 8:38 remaining in the first half, the Tigers went on a 12-0 run to start to pull away. Harris had five points during that run and sophomore forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) had four. After taking a 13-point lead into the locker room, Wittenberg was struggling early in the second half before getting it going again, taking off on a 22-10 run in the middle of the half to enlarge the lead to 19 again. Freshman forward Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) had two of his four three-pointers during the run, while Harris added five of his game-high 17 points.
Harris wound up with his eighth double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Longley chipped in with 15 points and eight boards, senior forward Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield) had 10 points and four caroms, and Bucheit came off the bench to stroke 4-of-5 three-pointers to finish with 14 points.
The Tigers have two more busy weeks of NCAC action remaining before the conference tournament opens with quarterfinal action on Feb. 19. Wittenberg is already assured of a home game in the quarterfinals, and would secure home court advantage for the last two rounds by winning the regular season title for a second straight year.
After a pivotal road game on Wednesday against Ohio Wesleyan, the Tigers return home for Senior Recognition Day against Hiram. Three Tiger players will be honored - Mossing, center Brian Gratsch (Madeira, Ohio/Madeira) and guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood). At halftime of that game, athletes from all Wittenberg sports will be recognized for their accomplishments in a special annual ceremony.