SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Wittenberg Head Coach Bill Brown puts together a challenging nonconference schedule every year for a reason. He wants his team battle-tested for the stretch run, and games like Tuesday's 66-61 win over NAIA scholarship foe Cedarville in the HPER Center Arena are just the kind of tune-up the Tigers need.
After holding off the Yellow Jackets for a third straight year, the 6-0 Tigers can now turn their attention to the new No. 1 ranked team in the nation - North Coast Athletic Conference rival Wooster. The unbeaten Scots invade the HPER Center Arena Saturday, Dec. 9, for a game slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
It's conceivable the Tigers got caught looking ahead after taking a comfortable 39-23 lead into the locker room at halftime. The lead, which Wittenberg held from the opening tip, stretched to 48-26 after the Tigers opened the second half on a 9-3 run over the first five minutes. But the Yellow Jackets battled back. After missing 10 of their first 11 three-pointers, Cedarville, which came into the game undefeated and receiving votes in the national NAIA Division II poll, heated up down the stretch, eventually slicing the lead to two on a Chris Walker three-pointer with 36 seconds left.
But as they have done all season, Wittenberg made the plays with the game on the line, starting with three free throws in a seven second span by sophomore wing Gregg Hill (Redford, Mich./Union), made possible by an athletic tip-out rebound by senior post Jack Hemenway (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) in between. Cedarville then missed two contested shots in the final 10 seconds and senior postDane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) finished things off with his game-high 13th rebound of the night.
Borchers led both teams in scoring as well with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. Hill added 15 points and two assists, Hemenway was solid with 10 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots and sophomore wing Mark Caraway (Jamestown, Ohio/Greeneview)chipped in with 10 points in 19 productive minutes off the bench.
Cedarville, which was limited to 37 percent shooting from the field and hit a game-changing 4-of-9 free throws, was paced by Ryan Short with 16 points and two players, Guy Rathmell and Chris Walker, with 11 apiece. Rathmell added nine rebounds as the taller Yellow Jackets easily won the battle of the boards 45-35.