The Wittenberg men's basketball team didn't reach one of its regular season goals last week, but the Tigers got another chance, and now they hope to make the most of it in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Ranked seventh in the nation with a 24-4 record, the Tigers received a first-round bye and will take on the winner of tonight's John Carroll/Calvin game at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 6 in the HPER Center.
Last week, the Tigers won two games before getting upset in the championship game of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday by arch-rival Wooster. On Tuesday in the NCAC Tournament quarterfinals, the Tigers struggled early before putting away the eighth-seeded Denison Big Red, 71-46. The Tigers started off strong, but Denison battled back to within 36-29 by halftime. The Tigers scored seven of the first nine points in the second half and minutes later put together a 9-0 run that opened up a 20-point lead.
Twelve Wittenberg players scored in the game, led by sophomore forward Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading), who had 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) came off the bench to score 11 points and dish out seven assists and senior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds.
On Thursday in the NCAC semifinals against Wabash, the Tigers again used a balanced offensive attack and a significant rebounding advantage to ease their way past an opponent, this time by a 71-54 score.
Wabash led much of the first half, pushing the lead to as many as 12 points, before two three-pointers by the Tigers' junior point guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) sparked a 16-1 run. After Wittenberg went to the locker room with a 29-19 halftime advantage, Wabash got no closer than seven points in the second half. Wittenberg wound up with a 36-22 rebounding advantage, but the Tigers were unable to put the game away because of uncharacteristically poor ball-handling - 22 turnovers (double their season average of 11.2) to the Little Giants' 12. Wittenberg made up for it, however, by shooting 21-of-39 from the field (53.8 percent) and 11-of-17 from long range - good for a blistering 64.7 percentage.
Wittenberg was led offensively by Bucheit, who hit 4-of-5 three-pointers en route to 17 points. Sophomore center Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) added 16 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, Walker chipped in with 10 points and eight boards and sophomore center Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) rounded things out with a terrific game off the bench, contributing six points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals and three blocks.
That set the stage for the improbable championship game, which was dominated by the second-seeded College of Wooster Scots to the tune of a 100-71 final score. The Scots jumped on top quickly, allowed the Tigers to climb back into the game late in the first half and then crushed Wittenberg's spirit with a stunning 11-0 run going into the locker room, capped by an off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer. Wooster was nothing short of amazing in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 65 percent from the field (17-of-26), 69 percent from three-point range (9-of-13) and 100 percent from the free throw line (4-of-4).
If it wasn't the perfect game, it was the perfect first half, one in which Wittenberg could only counter with 38 percent shooting from the field. Wooster never let up in the second half and ran the margin as high as 36 points. For the game, Wittenberg picked up 19 points and seven rebounds from Walker, 13 points and six rebounds from senior guard Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) and 10 points from Brady.
This week, three Tiger players and Head Coach Bill Brown earned NCAC postseason awards. Walker earned first-team honors after leading the Tigers in scoring at 13.8 points per game and ranking second in rebounds at 6.2 per contest. Brady, who averaged 10.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, and Russ, who posted averages of 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game and also led the NCAC in blocked shots, were named to the all-conference second-team.
NCAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year went to Bill Brown (Wittenberg 1973) for the fifth time in his career and the fourth time as coach of the Tigers. Brown has an 11-year record at his alma mater of 250-61 and an overall 17-year record of 310-160. Wittenberg has won six NCAC regular season titles and two NCAC Tournament titles, and the Tigers have advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament seven times in his career.