Harris
Longley
Rustad
All season, there had been few mountains too large to climb for the Wittenberg University Tiger men's basketball team. On Saturday, the peak that the Tigers encountered at DePauw University in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament was exactly that. The Tigers rallied valiantly late in the game, but they eventually ran out of time, falling to DePauw 89-76.
The loss ended Wittenberg's season after North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships. The Tigers, who defeated Franklin College at home on Thursday to move into the second round, conclude the 2001-02 campaign with a sparkling 26-4 overall record.
The season has now ended for Wittenberg, and the postseason honors are now rolling in. For the second year in a row, Head Coach Bill Brown was named NCAC Coach of the Year, while junior center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) claimed first-team all-conference honors for thei first time in his career and junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) and senior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) were named to the All-NCAC second teams.
For Brown, it was the fourth NCAC Coach of the Year honor of his career and his third since returning to his alma mater in 1994. His career record is now 266-150, while his mark at Wittenberg is now 206-51. Harris led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding in his first year as a starter, and he wound up with 12 double-doubles on the season, including three in his last five games. Longley, who was second on the team in scoring and rebounding, was a second-team choice a year ago, while Rustad, third on the team in scoring and second in assists, garnered postseason honors for the first time.
Against DePauw, the Tigers fell behind 51-42 by the end of a frenetic first half. Seventh-ranked DePauw, champion of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and owner of a 23-3 record, pulled away from a 24-24 tie to outscore Wittenberg 27-18 in the final 10 minutes of the half, thanks in large part to 59 percent shooting from the field.
In the second 20 minutes, Wittenberg got down by as much as 18 points midway through the half before rallying to within nine points three different times, but could get no closer as the bounces just didn't go the Tigers' way. For the game, DePauw knocked down 54 percent of its shots and turned the ball over just eight times.
Wittenberg was paced offensively by sophomore guard Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams), who hit five of his first six shots in the game and finished with a team-high 21 points. The Tigers also got double figure scoring performances from Harris, who had his 12th double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, Longley with 11 points and sophomore forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) with 10 points.
That came just two nights after the Tigers put together a huge second half to overwhelm visiting Franklin College 75-44 at the HPER Center in NCAA Division III tournament first round action.
For the 10th straight game, Wittenberg outscored its foes in the second 20 minutes of action, this time expanding a 27-19 halftime lead to 48-20 with 13 minutes remaining in the game. By the time the Grizzlies, champions of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, recovered the game was too far out of reach.
rebounding margin for a second straight year, and the Grizzlies, winners of eight straight games on the strength of a high-scoring fast-break, guard-oriented offense. Wittenberg's inside strength turned out to be the difference as the Tigers, who improved to 26-3 on the season, outrebounded the Grizzlies 46-23 and held Franklin to just 44 points, 39 below their season average.
Wittenberg was paced by another oustanding performance by B.J. Harris, who turned in his 11th double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds. When Harris wasn't punishing the Grizzlies in the paint, Longley was hitting for 10 points and five rebounds before departing with an ankle injury in the second half, and senior center Brian Gratsch (Madeira, Ohio/Madeira) was coming off the bench to pour in 10 points and six boards.Next: Season Complete