CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — The Wittenberg Tigers saw a 15-point second half lead evaporate but still managed to gut out a clutch 54-52 victory at North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Wabash.
The win, sealed by senior post Sam Gregory's (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall) two free throws with just 28 seconds left in the game, was Wittenberg's 11th in its last 12 games. The Tigers are now 12-6 overall and, more importantly, 8-1 in the NCAC, good for a first-place tie. Wabash fell to 12-6 overall and 6-3 in the NCAC.
Gregory was forced into that position by a furious Wabash rally that turned a 42-27 Wittenberg lead with 14:34 to go into a 52-52 tie with 49 seconds left. He may have missed two of his other three foul shot attempts in the game, but he made these two count and the Tiger defense held up to secure the win.
Wittenberg shot a blistering 55 percent from the field in the first half, including 6-of-8 on three-point attempts, to take a 29-21 lead into the halftime locker room. On the flip side, Wabash managed just 26 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes, a figure that negated a 20-14 rebounding advantage. Included in that Wabash rebounding margin was a whopping 12 offensive caroms.
After senior post Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) hit a three-pointer to give Wittenberg the aforementioned 15-point lead, Wabash finally found its shooting touch to stage its rally. The Little Giants hit 52 percent from the field and all six free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes.
Junior guard Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union) scored all of his game-high 16 points in the second half to key the victory. Junior wing Kevin Murray (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) added 13 points, including 10 in the first half. He went 4-of-4 from the field and 2-of-2 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
Also of note, Barabino filled the stats sheet with 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting, three assists, five rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals in 29 outstanding minutes. In addition, junior guard Kyle Bigler (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) drilled a pair of important first-half three-pointers.
Gary Simkus led Wabash with 15 points and seven rebounds.