GRANVILLE, Ohio — What on the surface appears to be just another win for the top-ranked team in the nation is actually something a bit more significant. The Wittenberg Tigers took control early in Saturday's game and pretty much cruised to a 74-49 victory at Denison, a place that has provided a difficult mental hurdle in recent years.

The win, the Tigers' 56th win in the last 58 meetings with the Big Red, dating back to 1969, avenged last year's double overtime loss at Denison. The Big Red, who dropped to 9-10 overall and 5-5 in the NCAC after seeing their five-game win streak snapped, also held a lead on the Tigers in their meeting during the 2003-04 season. The Tigers, who won for the 12th straight time, improved to 18-1 overall and 9-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

As it has almost all season, the formula for victory was a stingy defense combined with a balanced, post-oriented offense. Seventeen of Wittenberg's 19 opponents have been held under 60 points and six haven't even made it to 50 points, including Denison, which shot 33 percent from the field and committed twice as many turnovers as Wittenberg (16-8).

Offensively, senior posts Daniel Russ and Dane Borchers were outstanding again. Borchers hit 8-of-10 shots from the field to finish with 16 points and Russ made 8-of-12 from the field to lead all scorers with 17 tallies. The tandem also combined for 12 rebounds, five blocked shots and five steals in the game.

An 11-0 run midway through the first half opened the game up, extending an 11-9 Wittenberg advantage to 22-9 at the 7:15 mark on a lay-up by Russ, who had 11 points in the first half. By halftime, the lead was out to 31-13, and despite some shoddy free throw shooting (a season-worst 4-of-14 in the game for Wittenberg), the Tigers managed to continually extend the lead in the final 20 minutes.

Denison was paced by Dan Hodgkinson with 14 points and seven rebounds and Robb Hern with seven points and a game-high eight boards.