The watershed moment that changed the Wittenberg athletic landscape forever occurred on April 3, 1955, with the most important hiring in the department's illustrious history.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team once again ranked among the best in the nation in 2004-05, extending a long history of success dating back to the mid-1950s. But for the second straight year, the Tigers lost their NCAA Division III Tournament opener on their home floor to Ohio Athletic Conference champion John Carroll.
After a breakout season in which he was at his best in his team's biggest games, Wittenberg University men's basketball standout Daniel Russ has been selected first-team All-Great Lakes Region and third-team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
The Wittenberg men's basketball team ended its season in disappointing fashion, falling to John Carroll University in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at home on March 5. The Tigers capped the season with a record of 25-4 overall after finishing second in the NCAC regular season standings with a 14-2 record and winning the NCAC Tournament for the fifth time in school history.
An outstanding winter sports season has come to a close for the 2004-05 school year, but not before 15 Wittenberg University student-athletes reaped rich rewards for their efforts as they were selected to All-North Coast Athletic Conference teams.
For the second straight year, the John Carroll Blue Streaks invaded Wittenberg's HPER Center and came away with a victory. Unlike last year, which was the kind of track meet the high-powered Streaks prefer and ended up a 19-point JCU win, this was a double overtime thriller that finally tipped in the visitors' favor by a 75-68 final.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team has rarely enjoyed a Spring Break in the traditional warm-weather locales, unlike many of the university's students, who are off for some fun in the sun next week. The Tigers wouldn't have it any other way.
Wittenberg junior wing Daniel Russ (Louisville, KY/Trinity) has been named Player of the Year to highlight the 2005 All-North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball squad, announced today after voting by the conference's head coaches.
At the risk of getting ahead of oneself, it may be a case of deja vu all over again. The Wittenberg Tigers, fresh off their fifth North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship gained with an exhilarating 61-59 victory over No. 1 ranked Wooster on Saturday, have been given a first-round bye in the 2005 NCAA Division III Tournament.
Sometimes the third time isn't a charm. For the third time in its men's basketball program's history, the College of Wooster Fighting Scots ascended to the No. 1 ranking in the nation on a Monday only to be upset by their arch-rival, the Wittenberg Tigers, the following Saturday.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team will finally have the opportunity to play a team other than the Allegheny Gators tonight when the Tigers square off with the Wabash Little Giants in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals at the College of Wooster.
The Wittenberg Tigers stared down a pair of psychological demons Friday in the North Coast Athletic Conference semifinals, capturing a 61-53 overtime victory over the Wabash College Little Giants in a game played at the College of Wooster. The win advanced the fifth-ranked and second-seeded Tigers to the NCAC Tournament championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wooster against the winner of the night's second semifinal game between the top-seeded Scots and fifth-seeded Earlham.
The Wittenberg Tigers took advantage of all of their usual match-up advantages Tuesday in the HPER Center, racing past visiting Allegheny College, 74-46. The win was Wittenberg's 45th in 46 all-time first round conference tournament games.
The Wittenberg Tigers jumped out to an early lead, took the homestanding Allegheny Gators' best shots, and then ran away with a 77-47 victory. The win put the finishing touches on Wittenberg's third 22-3 regular season in the last five years and assured the Tigers of second place in the final North Coast Athletic Conference standings.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team has risen to No. 5 in the national rankings and run its record to 21-3 overall and 13-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Good, but not yet enough for a team with the highest of high expectations.
It wasn't easy, and it certainly wasn't pretty. But the Wittenberg Tigers pulled out the tough victory Wednesday night, turning back a stern challenge from Ohio Wesleyan with a final score of 65-53.
In the long and storied rivalry Wittenberg and Wooster share in men's basketball, it would be hard to imagine a better game from start to finish. Ranked third in the nation and hungry to avenge an 18-point setback in their home gym a month ago, the Wooster Scots pulled out a dramatic triple overtime victory over Wittenberg, 102-95.
With the 2004-05 regular season coming to a close the Wittenberg Tigers are trying to edge their way into first place in the NCAC. The Tigers return home after a hard-fought victory over Earlham in Richmond, Ind. on Wednesday tied for first place in the NCAC and riding high with a 15-game winning streak.
It didn't end up being quite the blowout it at first appeared, but the Wittenberg Tigers took care of business with a 78-54 victory at Earlham College.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team is known in 2004-05 primarily for its post play, but beware of the three-point threat as well. That's the lesson the Hiram Terriers learned the hard way on Saturday as the Tigers canned 21 three-pointers to break the school and North Coast Athletic Conference record for treys in a game in a 106-60 win.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team is now riding a 13-game win streak and appears to be peaking at just the right time. The Tigers have won four games since the last report, improving to 18-2 overall and 10-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, good for a first-place tie with Wooster.
The Wittenberg Tigers were forced to do it the hard way Wednesday, easing their way past a game Wabash Little Giants' team that plays hard-nosed defense and gets the backing of the best and most boisterous crowd in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The final was 56-48 in just the kind of defensive struggle that one would expect between the two best defensive teams in the conference.
The Wittenberg Tigers proved that losing once this season to the Denison Big Red was enough. The Tigers did not want to feel the taste of defeat again, instead adding to their 12-game winning streak with an 87-49 defeat of Denison.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team showed that the HPER Center court is a deadly territory for all opponents that enter Tiger country. The Tigers continued their winning ways at home - five straight years without a North Coast Athletic Conference regular season loss in the HPER Center - with a 75-48 defeat of the Earlham Quakers.
The Wittenberg Tigers had to wait an extra two days thanks to the Blizzard of 2005, or at least its impact on the northern half of Ohio, but they kept their game sharp with a 78-46 rout of Hiram on Monday on the Terriers home court.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team continues to show signs of playing at a championship level. The key now is for the Tigers to keep building toward a strong finish as the home stretch to the 2004-05 regular season nears.
The Wittenberg Tigers, ranked 13th in the nation after an 18-point road win over arch-rival Wooster on Saturday, came on strong as the game wore on and eventually stopped Ohio Wesleyan on its home court, 61-49.
The top-ranked defense in the North Coast Athletic Conference met the top-ranked offense on Saturday, and in the end the latter proved no match for the former as the Wittenberg Tigers stunned top-ranked and previously unbeaten arch-rival Wooster on its home floor by a 69-51 final score.
Seven straight wins over the last month, including three straight against NCAC foes, two against Ohio Athletic Conference powers and two against NAIA Division II scholarship programs, have the Tigers seemingly primed for the biggest game so far in the 2004-05 season at Wooster on Saturday.