GAMBIER, Ohio — For the third time already in the 2006-07 season, the Wittenberg Tigers pulled off an unlikely come-from-behind road victory. The victim of Wittenberg's late-game heroics in this instance was Kenyon College, which dropped a 72-67 overtime decision.
The win, Wittenberg's 20th in a row over Kenyon, improved the seventh ranked Tigers to 10-2 overall and 2-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). The Lords were defeated by a narrow margin by a top-25 team for the second time in three weeks to fall to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the NCAC.
Wittenberg was battling from behind throughout this game. After falling behind 7-0 in the opening minutes, the Tigers rallied to take a four-point lead on a lay-up by senior wing Billy Bowen (Arcadia, Ind./Hamilton Heights) with 6:31 left in the first half. However, the Lords ended the half on a 13-6 run to take a 31-28 lead into the locker room.
In the final 20 minutes, the two teams traded leads - with Kenyon getting the upper hand late on a jumper by Josh Klinger with 1:57 remaining and then four straight free throws inside the final minute. The Tigers kept the lead within one possession, and it paid off as sophomore wing Mark Caraway (Jamestown, Ohio/Greeneview)drilled a long three-pointer with less than one tick left on the clock. In all three overtime wins this season, the Tigers have had to rally from narrow deficits in the waning seconds to force overtime.
Much as he has all season, when the chips were down, senior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) picked his team up and carried them in overtime. He scored five straight points to turn a 64-62 deficit into a 67-64 lead and he finished with seven of his game-high 17 tallies in the extra session. Borchers was credited with his fourth consecutive double-double as he contributed 10 rebounds to the winning effort as well.
Sophomore wing Gregg Hill (Redford, Mich./Union) had his best game since injuring his hand at Ohio Northern on Dec. 19, pouring in 13 key points off the bench. Senior post Jack Hemenway (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a well-rounded effort. Nine of his points and 15 of Borchers' 17 were scored after halftime.
The Tigers, who return to action at home against Oberlin on Saturday, shot 44 percent from the field to match Kenyon's accuracy rate and won the rebounding battle by a narrow 36-33 margin. Kenyon, which was led by Bryan Yelvington with 14 points, finished with two more three-pointers than Wittenberg but made five less free throws and one less field goal overall to account for the final margin.