SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — It's unlikely that a basketball team has ever won a game when it has been outrebounded by 40 in a game. So it's hardly surprising that the Hiram Terriers were no match for the No. 1 ranked Wittenberg Tigers, who won the battle of the boards by a whopping 62-22 margin en route to an 83-41 home win.
The Tigers, who never trailed in the game after jumping out to a 13-2 lead in the opening minutes, improved to 14-1 overall and 5-1 in the NCAC. It was Wittenberg's eighth straight win, seven of which have come at home in the HPER Center, while Hiram dropped to 3-12 overall and 1-4 in the conference. The Tigers have now won 49 of 51 meetings between the two schools, including all 11 since the Terriers joined the NCAC prior to the 2000-01 season.
The Tigers had their way with the Terriers inside, led by the frontline trio of senior posts Daniel Russ and Dane Borchers and senior wing Kenny Brady. Russ and Borchers both had double-doubles with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 points, 10 rebounds respectively. Brady led all scorers with 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists.
The winning streak, however, is as much a tribute to a total team effort as it is to the big men in the paint, and once again the Tigers picked up contributions from a lot of players. Senior wing Phil Steffes finished with eight points and nine rebounds (a career high), freshman wing Tyler Howard added nine points, four rebounds and three assists in 15 productive minutes off the bench, and freshman wing D.J. Corbett chipped in with eight points and three rebounds in just 13 minutes. All 16 Wittenberg players in uniform saw at least two minutes of action.
Hiram was led by T.C. Spencer with 11 points and six rebounds, but all the scoring came in the first half. The Terriers became the eighth straight Wittenberg opponent held to 57 points or less as they shot just 30 percent from the field, including a 4-of-19 performance from three-point range. Wittenberg had a tough night shooting as well, finishing at 39 percent from the field, but the Tigers made up for that with a 17-for-19 performance from the free throw line.