The Wittenberg men's basketball team is on a roll. Seven straight wins over the last month, including three straight against North Coast Athletic Conference 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.
Wittenberg, which hasn't lost a regular season NCAC home game in five years, improved to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in the conference with wins in the last week over Oberlin on Saturday and Wabash on Wednesday. Next up is a road date with the No. 1-ranked Scots.
The Tigers lead the series 46-37, including two wins in three tries a year ago. Wittenberg captured both regular season meetings before Wooster put it all together in the NCAC Tournament final, defeating the Tigers on their home floor, 100-71. Interestingly, Wittenberg is the only NCAC team to beat Wooster in the last six years, a feat they have accomplished nine times during that span.
The Tigers tuned up for Wooster with a 59-40 victory over visiting Wabash. Wittenberg scored the game's first eight points and took a commanding 30-13 lead into the locker room for halftime. The key was forcing the Little Giants into just 16 percent shooting from the field. In the second half the lead never dipped below 15 points.
The Tigers put four players in double figures as they displayed a solid offensive game. Junior post Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) led all players with 16 points and seven rebounds. He was ably backed by junior wing Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading) with 13 points in a season-high 23 minutes off the bench, junior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) with 11 points and five rebounds and senior wing Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) with 10 points.
Wittenberg shot 49 percent from the field in the game and won the rebounding battle 36-30. Wabash, on the other hand, managed just 30 percent shooting from the field for the entire game, including a 2-of-15 performance from beyond the arc.
Against Oberlin, Wittenberg scored the first nine points of the game and were off to the races and a 100-50 home victory.
Wittenberg shot 56 percent from the field, 50 percent from three-point range and 83 percent from the free throw line on the way to the huge victory.
Five Wittenberg players reached double figures in the game, led by Russ, who had his way in the paint en route to game-highs of 22 points and eight rebounds. Bucheit was hot from three-point range, hitting 5-of-9 to finish with 15 points, Brady hit for 14 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Kenny Molz (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) and Borchers each contributed 10 points to the winning effort. Also of note, sophomore guard Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) added nine points in eight minutes off the bench and junior guard Phil Steffes (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) was solid with four points, four assists and six boards.
The Yeomen were outrebounded 44-21 by the taller Tigers and committed five more turnovers in the game. Wittenberg was credited with a season-high 27 assists, although no player finished with more than four.