SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — From start to finish, it was a fine afternoon for the Wittenberg Tigers. Undermanned Hiram, with just eight players in uniform, provided the opposition, and the seventh-ranked Tigers made short work of the visiting Terriers with a 78-41 triumph.
After a slow start offensively, the Tigers kicked it into gear late in the first half with a 23-6 run over the final 10 minutes. Working with a 35-15 halftime lead, all 15 Wittenberg players in uniform saw at least two minutes of action in the second half as the lead stretched to a high of 37 at game's end.
The Tigers once again showed tremendous balance, getting at least one point from 14 of their 15 players, led by senior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia)with 14 and sophomore wing Gregg Hill (Redford, Mich./Union) with 12. Borchers is closing in 400 points for the season and is now within 38 points of No. 10 in school history for career points. He currently has 1,384 career points.
Borchers added four rebounds (he recently moved into ninth place on the career list in that category), two assists, three blocked shots and two steals to his customarily stuffed stats sheet. Hill was all over the place as well, chipping in with three rebounds and four assists, while junior post Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) added nine points and four boards off the bench, and junior post Sam Gregory (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall) cleaned things up in the closing minutes with eight points.
Hiram, which was limited to 25 percent shooting for the game, was paced by Michael McDevitt with 14 points and nine rebounds. Seven of the eight Terrier players in uniform scored at least two points.
Heading into the final week of the 2006-07 regular season, the Tigers are now riding a seven-game winning streak with only a home game Wednesday against Wabash and a road date at Allegheny on Saturday remaining. Wittenberg reached the 20-win plateau for the seventh consecutive year with the win as the Tigers now stand 20-3 overall on the campaign. In the North Coast Athletic Conference, the Tigers remain in second place with a 12-2 mark.
Hiram dropped to 7-16 overall and 6-8 in the NCAC with the loss.