SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - For the 22nd time in the 25-year history of Wittenberg's holiday basketball tournament, currently known as the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic, the Wittenberg Tigers were crowned champions after gutting out a 54-50 win over Wisconsin-La Crosse.
The win moved Wittenberg, which has now won four straight games, back to the .500 mark for the first time since the opening weekend of the season at 5-5. Wisconsin-La Crosse, which defeated Marian in double overtime on Friday to reach the championship game, dropped to 6-5 on the campaign.
Neither team shot the ball well, turning the game into a sort of battle of wills. The Tigers, who were unable to pull out similarly tight contests earlier this season against Benedictine, Capital, Ohio Northern and Transylvania (all losses by five points or less), made the big plays down the stretch to hold on. None was bigger than a putback lay-up by senior wing Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) with 43 seconds left that gave Wittenberg a three-point lead and a clutch offensive rebound by senior guard Brandon White (Columbus, Ohio/Bexley) with 14 seconds left.
Those two plays led to a pair of clinching free throws by sophomore guard David Nowicki (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) with nine seconds left. Those successful attempts gave the Tigers a crucial four-point edge.
Barabino picked up Tournament Most Valuable Player honors for his 14-point, five-rebound performance, which followed a 17-point game in the semifinal win over Olivet on Friday. All 14 of Barabino's points came in the final 20 minutes, when his team needed him most.
Junior guard Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union) also made the all-tournament team after scoring 11 points and grabbing four rebounds. Ten of his 11 points came in the first half. Junior wing Kevin Murray (Carmel, Ind./Carmel)added 12 points and five rebounds, with 10 of his points also coming in the opening frame, which ended with Wittenberg clinging to a 27-25 lead.
As a team, the Tigers hit 38 percent from the field, including just 3-of-15 from three-point range, and 61 percent from the free throw line. UW-La Crosse, which held a 42-37 rebounding edge but committed four more turnovers in the game, shot 34 percent from the field. Nearly half of the Eagles' shots were three-pointers as UW-La Crosse hit 7-of-27 from long distance (out of 59 total attempts).
The Eagles were paced offensively by all-tournament honoree Tony Mane with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Austin Scott also made the all-tournament team - he added eight points and three rebounds.