CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — The Wittenberg Tigers ground out another North Coast Athletic Conference victory Wednesday, slowly pulling away from a young Wabash Little Giant squad for a 64-51 victory.
The Tigers, who fell to 16th in the national rankings after a Jan. 17 loss at Ohio Wesleyan, won for the ninth time in their last 10 games to improve to 15-3 overall and 7-2 in the NCAC. Wabash, which defeated Wittenberg at home a year ago, saw its modest two-game win streak snapped to fall to 6-12 overall and 3-6 in the conference.
There were five lead changes and three ties in the first 11 minutes of the game before senior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) keyed a 7-0 run by scoring five points in a five-minute span to turn a 13-11 Wabash lead into an 18-13 Wittenberg advantage. The lead stretched to 11 by halftime, thanks in part to a big lift off the bench from junior wing Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit). Barabino contributed all eight of his points and five of his six rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.
The lead was in double figures for most of the second half as the Little Giants' shooting percentage improved slightly - from 28 percent in the first half to 33 percent in the second - but was no match for the Tigers' 45 percent for both the second half and the game. Wabash did manage to out-rebound Wittenberg by one for the game while pulling down a whopping 18 offensive boards, but the Little Giants committed 16 turnovers, compared to 13 for the Tigers.
Individually, Borchers did his usual thing, contributing team-highs of 22 points and eight rebounds to go along with three blocked shots and two steals. He was ably backed by sophomore wing Gregg Hill (Redford, Mich./Union), who scored a career-high 21 points. Borchers and Hill combined for a 14-of-22 shooting performance for the game. Also of note was the play of senior post Jack Hemenway (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville), who chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds.
Wabash, which was hurt by a 7-of-15 shooting performance from the free throw line, was paced by Andrew Zimmer with 15 points and 10 rebounds.