The Wittenberg men's basketball team enjoyed yet another perfect week, extending its winning streak to 11 games, dating back to a Dec. 10 home loss to nationally ranked Otterbein. The Tigers improved to 15-3 overall and 9-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with victories over Hiram and Earlham in the last week.
Wittenberg, ranked 21st in the latest d3hoops.com poll, leads the NCAC by one game over seventh-ranked Wooster and two games over Ohio Wesleyan, and has already beaten both challengers. The Tigers haven't lost in NCAC regular season action since Feb. 1, 2003 at Allegheny, a win streak that stands at 15. They will attempt to build upon that streak in the next week with a road game Saturday at Denison and a home game Wednesday against Wabash.
In Saturday's 91-49 victory over the visiting Hiram College Terriers, Wittenberg Head Coach Bill Brown recorded career win No. 300. Prior to the 2003-04 season, 52 active NCAA Division III head coaches had 300 wins or more, putting Brown in elite company. Brown's career record is now 301-159 in 17 seasons, including 11 at Wittenberg, five at Kenyon and one at Wooster. His record at Wittenberg is a sparkling 241-60, including this season's 15-3.
The outcome of the game was in doubt for just a short time. With the score tied at six at the 16:25 mark of the first half, Wittenberg went on a 15-0 run and never looked back. The lead extended to as much as 30 points before halftime, and it got as high as 43 points with 9:24 left in the game.
Wittenberg put forth an extremely balanced offensive attack, with five players reaching double figures. Among the starting unit, no one played more than 20 minutes and as a group they wound up with just two turnovers in the game. Sophomore Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading) led the way with 15 points, senior Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds, senior Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) chipped in with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and sophomore Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) checked in with seven points, four rebounds and three assists. Rounding out the starting five was junior point guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont), who has been outstanding of late. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field (3-of-3 from three-point range), five assists and two rebounds.
When the Wittenberg Tigers and the Earlham Quakers hook up on the basketball court, the contrast in styles is obvious. And over the last four seasons, Wittenberg's power inside game and stout defense has been far too much for the Earlham up-tempo and three-point shooting, as it was again on Wednesday night as the Tigers posted an 84-53 win on the Quakers' home court.
The game was close through halftime, although Wittenberg's lead never dropped below five points after the Tigers raced out to a 13-2 lead in the game's opening five minutes. But in the second half, Wittenberg quickly stretched a 43-31 halftime advantage into a 66-36 rout with a 23-5 run in the first 10:30. The lead hit 34 points on several occasions late in the half before settling in at 84-53.
The Tigers outscored Earlham 28-8 in the paint and claimed a 38-28 rebounding advantage. Another key, as it has been throughout Wittenberg's 11-game win streak, was excellent guard play as the Tigers committed just seven turnovers, with the starting unit accounting for just one ballhandling miscue. And finally, the Tigers shot the ball better than they have all season, draining 57 percent of their shots from the field, including 7-of-17 from three-point range.
Walker led all scorers with 19 points, followed by Russ with 14 points and Brady with 10 points and a game-high six rebounds. All 15 players in uniform for Wittenberg played at least three minutes in the game.
Also of note, Brywczynski continued his stellar play, scoring eight points on 2-of-2 shooting from three-point range and 2-of-2 shooting from the free throw line, and dishing out a season-high seven assists against zero turnovers. Brywczynski has just one turnover in his last four games and has improved his assist-to-turnover ratio to 37-to-17.