SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Earlham men's basketball team pushed and prodded, but the men of Wittenberg would not be budged. After allowing Earlham to lead with six minutes left in the first half, the Tigers put ground between themselves and the Quakers with a 12-0 run to end the period, and sealed the victory with an 11-5 run to end the contest.
The Tigers improved to 14-6 on the season, including a stellar 10-1 mark in the conference, remaining in a tie for first place with the College of Wooster, who soundly defeated Hiram Wednesday. The Tigers were led once again by the lights-out shooting of senior Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit), who went 8-of-12 from the field, including a sharp 7-of-8 from within the three-point arc to total a game-high 17. It was Barabino's first appearance on the top of the scoring charts since the loss to Ohio Wesleyan on Jan. 23.
Coming in at second on the leaderboard for the Tigers was junior Kevin Murray (Carmel, Ind./Carmel), with 14 points, though he grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds throughout the contest. Other notable performances for the Red & White include 12 points apiece from junior guard Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union) and senior forward Sam Gregory (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall).
The Tiger defense held strong, allowing Earlham to shoot just 35% on the night, and winning the battle of the boards by a tally of 40-28, including 26 defensive grabs to the Quakers' 18. Wittenberg also dominated the paint, scoring 26 points there while limiting Earlham to 14, and continued to maintain it's marksmanship from the free-throw line, downing 11-of-12 on the evening.
The Tigers take on Allegheny at home on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the next matchup, after handing a 72-55 loss to the Gators on the road in January.