SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers tuned up for one of the biggest games of the 2006-07 season with a wire-to-wire victory over visiting Earlham, 87-40.
The win was Wittenberg's 11th in the last 12 games and the 14th in a row against Earlham, dating back to a pair of losses to the Quakers in the 1999-2000 season. The 11th-ranked Tigers are 17-3 overall and 9-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference heading into their annual trip to Wooster to take on the second-ranked and conference leading Scots at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3.
The Tigers were impressive in this one, breaking open a competitive game with a 13-0 run to end the first half/start the second half. The first 11 of those points were scored over the final four minutes of the first half as the Tigers took a 37-15 advantage into the locker room at halftime, and they added a short jumper by senior post Jack Hemenway (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) to open the final 20 minutes to extend the lead even furether.
Wittenberg was dominant in every phase of the game as the Tigers held a 43-27 advantage in rebounds and committed four less turnovers than Earlham (11-7). The Tigers shot 54 percent from the field, including a torrid 12-of-19 performance from three-point range, and they limited the Quakers to just 29 percent, including a 3-of-17 performance from beyond the arc. Earlham got nine hard-fought points from leading scorer Markous Jewett and another nine off the bench from Neil Collins, but the Quakers were held 25 points below their season scoring average.
Wittenberg was led by the 17 points and nine rebounds of senior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) and 14 points and three rebounds of sophomore wing Gregg Hill (Redford, Mich./Union). Junior wing Brandon White (Columbus, Ohio/Bexley) was strong off the bench, pouring in a career-high 10 points, while senior wing Billy Bowen (Arcadia, Ind./Hamilton Heights) hit three first-half three-pointers to finish with nine points and junior wing/post Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) chipped in with six points and six boards off the bench.
Earlham, which stayed with the Tigers two weeks ago in a 71-60 loss on its home floor, fell to 7-13 overall and 5-6 in the NCAC.