LEXINGTON, Ky. — A strong start led to a positive finish for the Wittenberg Tigers, who cruised to a 62-51 victory at Transylvania. The win was Wittenberg's fourth straight to open the 2005-06 season, all against teams that were previously undefeated.

Wittenberg, ranked 10th nationally by d3hoops.com, will take a 4-0 record into its North Coast Athletic Conference opener next Saturday against Denison back home in the HPER Center. Last year, the Big Red sprung an overtime upset on the shorthanded Tigers, who were playing without this year's leading scorer Kenny Brady, in the NCAC opener at Denison.

The Tigers sprinted out to a 14-2 lead against Transylvania, which dropped to 2-1 on the season, and by halftime the edge was a commanding 17 points as junior wing Billy Bowen closed out the opening 20 minutes with a three-point field goal. Transylvania, one of the favorites in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference this year, fought back to outscore Wittenberg by six in the second half. The Pioneers closed to within four points with 4:22 remaining in the game, but the three-pointer by Stephen Gabbard would be Transylvania's final score of the afternoon. The Tigers closed it out with 7-of-8 free throws in the final 3:23.

Senior post Daniel Russ tied for game scoring honors with 12, and he was high man in rebounds for either team with eight. Freshman guard Gregg Hill added 10 points off the bench and freshman Tyler Howard drained three three-pointers in less than nine minutes off the bench.

The Tigers won the rebounding battle 36-29 and limited the Pioneers to just 33 percent shooting from the field.