SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - After a slow start in each half, the Wittenberg Tigers did all the little things they had to do in capturing an 86-61 home victory over the Allegheny Gators. The win kept the Tigers in first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference at 11-1, tied with rival Wooster, which Wittenberg closes the regular season with on Feb. 16.

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. Junior forward/center B.J. Harris had five points during that run and sophomore forward Peter Walker 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 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. Junior forward Kevin Longley chipped in with 15 points and eight boards, senior forward Chad Mossing 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 win improved Wittenberg to 18-3 overall and 11-1 in the NCAC. Next up for the Tigers is a tough road game against third-place Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. All games can be heard on WBLY 1600 AM in Springfield or via the Internet on Wittenberg's Web site.

Posted by: Ryan Maurer