Wittenberg Finishes Strong In Big Win Over Kenyon

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers put together another solid effort Wednesday night, overcoming a relatively slow start to collect an 80-51 victory over the visiting Kenyon College Lords.

The Tigers, ranked second in the nation, improved to 11-1 overall and 2-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. It was the 19th straight win for Wittenberg over Kenyon, dating back to 1994. The Lords dropped to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in the NCAC.

It was Wittenberg's fifth straight home win, and the comfort level was evident throughout, even as the Lords moved out to a 5-2 lead in the early going. The Tigers scored 10 straight points as Kenyon went nearly six minutes without a score, then Wittenberg put together a 15-2 burst that opened up a 27-10 lead with 6:25 remaining in the first half. From that point, Kenyon got the lead up 10 points just once and the lead was at least 20 points for almost the entire second half.

Wittenberg put four players in double figures offensively and held a commanding 38-27 rebounding advantage, but this win was lopsided because of another outstanding defensive performance by the Tigers. Kenyon managed just 34 percent shooting from the field and committed 24 turnovers.

The Tigers were led by senior wing Kenny Brady with 14 points and seven rebounds and senior post Daniel Russ with 14 points and six rebounds in just 13 foul-plagued minutes. Senior post Dane Borchers added 12 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists after being held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes. Freshman wing Tyler Howard added 13 points, five steals and two assists in 19 minutes off the bench as all 16 Wittenberg players in uniform saw at least two minutes of action and 11 of them found their way into the scoring column.

Kenyon picked up 13 points and eight rebounds, both team-highs, from Bryan Yelvington.