SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - It's never easy to beat a team three times in one season, especially when the first two games were so hotly contested. But first-seeded Wittenberg bucked the odds on Friday night, defeating fourth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan 75-69 in another hard-fought but fairly well-played NCAC tournament semifinal game.
Wittenberg, which had won the first two meetings between the two teams by a combined total of five points, advanced to the NCAC championship game for the second straight year and the eighth time since joining the league prior to the 1989-90 season. The Tigers were runners-up a year ago to Wooster, the second seed in this year's competition and Saturday's championship game foe.
The difference in Friday night's semifinal slugfest was rebounding. The Tigers, who lead the nation in rebound margin for a second straight year at more than 12 per game, topped their visitors on the glass by a 41-32 margin, including a 17-8 advantage in offensive boards. Otherwise, things were amazingly even as both teams shot just under 50 percent from the field and around 40 percent from three-point range. Wittenberg struggled from the free throw line, particularly in the second half, allowing Ohio Wesleyan to cut the lead to three on two occasions in the final minutes.
Wittenberg, which took out eighth-seeded Earlham in Tuesday's quarterfinals, was led offensively by sophomore guard Rod Emmons, who knocked down four first-half three-pointers en route to 13 total points in the game. He was joined in double figures by junior center B.J. Harris, who had 12 points and seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end. All 10 Tiger players who saw action in the game scored at least three points, and every one of them had at least one rebound.
Ohio Wesleyan, which advanced to the semifinals by virtue of Oberlin's forfeiture of its season due to the use of an illegal player, got 21 points from sophomore guard Shawn Kindred and 19 points from sophomore forward Travis Schwab. But just as they had all season, the Bishops got minimal offensive contributions from the rest of the lineup as just four other players even scored a point and none finished in double figures. Kindred and Schwab took 28 of the team's 55 shots and 10 of the team's 13 free throws.