CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. - 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 Tigers won for the 13th straight time in 2004-05 and improved to 18-2 overall and 10-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. Wittenberg, ranked ninth in the latest d3hoops.com poll (its highest position of the season), remained in a first-place tie with Wooster. Wabash, which is tied for third in the NCAC with Earlham at 7-4, dropped to 10-10 overall.

Wabash led most of the first half and took a 21-17 advantage into the locker room as both teams struggled with their shooting and their ballhandling, combining for 16 turnovers and a shooting percentage just over 35 percent. But the Tigers tied the game almost immediately in the second half and then put together a key 9-2 run midway through the half to take a lead they would never relinquish.

With the score tied at 33 at the 12:15 mark, Wittenberg junior wing Kenny Brady converted an old-fashioned three-point play to spark the scoring outburst (relatively speaking, of course). The lead grew to 12 points on a pair of free throws with 1:42 to play by senior guard Kenny Molz, and despite some spotty foul shooting Wittenberg was able to put the game away.

Junior post Dane Borchers had his best game of late, pouring in 21 points and seven rebounds to the cause. Senior wing Andy Bucheit added 10 points, all in the second half, and Molz added nine tallies off the bench. Wabash, which was outrebounded 35-25, had offensive balance, led by Adonis Joseph and Michael Woods with eight points each.

Wittenberg goes for win No. 14 in a row Saturday at home against Hiram.