SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The 16th ranked team in NCAA Division III got the best of the No. 1 ranked team in NAIA Division II Wednesday night in Wittenberg's HPER Center as the homestanding Tigers captured a 77-68 victory over neighboring rival Cedarville.
The Tigers improved to 5-1 overall heading into Saturday's road trip to Granville for a North Coast Athletic Conference match-up with Denison. Cedarville, which had won the last two meetings between the two teams by a combined total of three points, dropped to 10-2 overall.
Predictably, the game was close throughout, although it had all the earmarks of an early-season game between two teams not yet in a groove. Cedarville shot 40 percent from the field and made just 6-of-12 from the free throw line. Wittenberg went through hot and cold stretches throughout the game and shot 39 percent from the field, including just 4-of-17 shots from three-point range.
But the positives far outweighed any negatives, especially from Wittenberg's standpoint. The Tigers had never lost to Cedarville before a Josh Gast three-pointer inside the final 10 seconds in 2002 stunned Wittenberg in a one-point setback, and then Gast did the Tigers in again last year on the Yellow Jackets' home court as he drilled a wide open three-pointer from the top of the key in the waning seconds. This time, a suffocating Wittenberg defense kept the high-octane Yellow Jackets in check throughout and played a key part in the game's turning point.
Leading 43-32 at the 16:21 mark of the second half, Wittenberg went cold as Cedarville went on a 15-2 run to take a 47-45 lead with 11:40 remaining. Good teams answer a challenge, though, and the Tigers did just that, putting together a 15-2 run of their own that moved them back out to a 12-point advantage at the 6:46 mark. Cedarville missed three shots and committed two turnovers during Wittenberg's decisive flurry, and the Tigers made five straight free throws during it on the other end.
Down the stretch, Wittenberg did just enough to hold the Yellow Jackets at bay. The Tigers' last field goal came at the 2:44 mark, but they made 8-of-10 free throws and they defended the perimeter well enough that Cedarville couldn't generate the kind of run necessary to get back into the game.
Wittenberg's normally balanced offensive attack evaporated on Wednesday as three players had hot hands and made the most of their opportunities. Junior post Daniel Russ led the way with 23 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and three steals, and senior wing Andy Bucheit was simply outstanding, enjoying his best offensive game in two years as he threw down 21 points and grabbed three boards. But the best stat line was turned in by junior post Dane Borchers, who finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists and six blocked shots, one of the highest blocks totals in the decade-plus since 1991 NCAA Division III Player of the Year Brad Baldridge turned in his school-record 10.
Cedarville was led by the 17 points and seven rebounds of junior All-American Mugabe Thomas, who was 0-of-7 from the field and 0-of-2 from the free throw line in the first half. Post Anthony Delimpo added 12 points and five rebounds, although he was forced into 5-of-14 shooting from the floor.