Hosted by Wittenberg University

2001 Schedule

Friday, Dec. 28, 2001
First Round
6 p.m.
Marian College (9-3) def. Baldwin-Wallace College (3-7)
87-82

In an entertaining battle, the Marian College Knights captured a hard-fought, up-tempo win 87-82 over Baldwin-Wallace. The Knight improved to 9-3 with the win and advanced to the tournament championship game on Saturday against host Wittenberg, while BWC lost yet another tight game in which they had their opportunities to drop to 3-7 on the season.

Marian was led in the game by James Gardner, who absolutely dominated at the offensive end. He scored 29 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor and 9-of-9 shooting from the free throw line. He was backed on the offensive end by three teammates in double-figures - Montay Crowder, Brad Metzger and Wes Carmony. The Knights shot 52.8 percent from the field in the game (28-of-53) and 80.6 percent from the free throw line, numbers that enabled them to consistently hold off the hard-charging Yellow Jackets.

BWC, which was coming off a one-point loss at Heidelberg in its last outing just prior to the Christmas holiday, also shot well from the field, hitting 52.6 percent (30-of-57), and scorched the nets for a tournament record 94.7 percent (18-of-19) from the charity stripe. But the Yellow Jackets had no answers for Gardner and couldn't come up with a big three on several occasions in the final minutes. Thad Davis topped the team with 20 points and seven rebounds, while Jason Schefft chipped in with 18 points, Jon Carroll added 14 and Shawn McCormick finished with 12.

Box Score Marian def. Baldwin-Wallace, 87-82


8 p.m.
Wittenberg University (9-1) def. Illinois College (4-3)
81-55

This one was a battle of the boards, which points to exactly why the Wittenberg University Tigers won the game and are ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation in NCAA Division III. Wittenberg, which improved to 9-1 with an 81-55 win over Illinois College, outrebounded its visitors 64-31. The 64 rebounds broke a 13-year-old tournament record, and the 29 offensive boards that were part of that total are also believed to be a record (no official record kept in that category.

The Tigers started slowly but pulled away midway through the first half and eventually gained a 47-32 halftime advantage. Peter Walker was again full of energy off the Wittenberg bench with 16 points and seven rebounds, while B.J. Harris led the assault on the boards with 12 rebounds and 15 points. Kevin Longley was also in double figures in rebounds, while Mark Borland reached double digits in scoring.

Illinois College got a nice game from center Garrett Ingram, who finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, but the Blueboys had no answer for Wittenberg's depth. Adam Wenger came off the bench to contribute 10 points, but it wasn't enough for IC, which managed just two fewer total rebounds than the Tigers had on the offensive end.

Box Score Wittenberg def. Illinois College, 81-55


Saturday, Dec. 29, 2001
Consolation Game
3 p.m.
Illinois College (5-3) def. Baldwin-Wallace College (3-8)
91-74

The Illinois College Blueboys outscored the Baldwin-Wallace College Yellow Jackets 25-8 in the final seven minutes of the game to capture third place in the 2001 Kiwanis-Wittenberg Holiday Classic. The game was tied at 66, but IC, which improved to 5-3 on the season, used its superior height to pull away down the stretch and win 91-74.

Illinois College, which forced the Yellow Jackets into 23 turnovers, was led offensively by the inside-outside tandem of center Garrett Ingram and guard Matt Petefish. Ingram, at 6-10 the tallest player in the tournament, scored 23 points and added 11 rebounds. Petefish finished with 27 points, five rebounds and four assists. His brother, Drew Petefish, chipped in with nine assists and five rebounds.

Baldwin-Wallace, which fell to 3-8 on the season, led by two points at halftime and hung tough against the deeper, taller Blueboys until the seven-minute mark. All five Yellow Jacket starters finished in double figures, led by guard Jason Schefft with 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field. BWC, which nearly eclipsed the tournament record for free throw shooting percentage in a tournament with 89 percent (34-of-38), also got 14 points and six rebounds from Shawn McCormick.

Box Score Illinois College def. Baldwin-Wallace, 91-74


Championship Game
8 p.m.
Wittenberg (10-1) def. Marian (9-4)
65-62

The Wittenberg University Tigers once again played the role of rude hosts, winning their own tournament for the 17th time in 19 years. This time, the championship game victim was Marian College by the narrowest of margins, 65-62. The win was the ninth straight for Wittenberg and improved the 13th ranked Tigers to 10-1 overall in the 2001-02 campaign.

Wittenberg was paced in the game by B.J. Harris, who put together a second straight double-double effort in earning tournament MVP honors. Harris finished with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor and a game-high 11 rebounds. He was backed by Chad Mossing, who hit for 10 points and added three rebounds and three assists to the team's effort.

Marian, which fell to 9-4 overall, had three players hit for double-figures but were outrebounded 41-28 and shot just 29 percent on 27 three-point attempts. Leading the way was All-Tournament team selection James Gardner, who slashed his way to 18 points and six rebounds, while Andy Emberton hit four three-pointers and finished with 14 points off the bench.

Box Score Wittenberg def. Marian, 65-62

2001 Kiwanis-Wittenberg Men's Basketball Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team

B.J. Harris - Wittenberg (MVP)
Kevin Longley - Wittenberg
Peter Walker - Wittenberg
James Gardner - Marian
Garrett Ingram - Illinois College
Thad Davis - Baldwin-Wallace