SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers let a late first-half lead slip away and now find the road to the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament a bit more bumpy after a 60-56 loss to visiting Allegheny.
The Tigers are now 14-5 overall and 6-4 in the NCAC, while Allegheny escaped the HPER Center with records of 10-8 overall and 7-3 in the conference. The two teams have now split the season series, with each team winning on the other's home floor, but Allegheny remained in a second-place tie with Wabash, while the Tigers dropped into a fourth-place tie with Ohio Wesleyan, their next opponent.
Allegheny led by as many as five points in the early going before the Tigers went on an 11-1 run to take a 30-22 lead with 3:53 before intermission. The lead grew to nine on a three-pointer by sophomore Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) at the 1:14 mark, but the half ended with an 8-0 Gator, punctuated by a steal at mid-court and miracle three-pointer by Allegheny's Donte Briscoe.
The second half turned on a bizarre sequence at the 14:11 mark. With Wittenberg clinging to a one-point lead, sophomore Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) ran down an offensive rebound and drove back in for what appeared to be two points. Allegheny's Craig Devinney got his hand caught in the net as Black's shot was going through the hoop, however, and the officials incorrectly called offensive goaltending. The Gators' Charlie Jaicks then put his team back in the lead with two free throws after Black was whistled for a technical as he argued the call.
Wittenberg tied the game on three occasions after that, but the shots just wouldn't fall for the Tigers in the second half as they shot just 29.6 percent from the floor, including just 2-of-10 from three-point range. Junior Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) hit a three-pointer with 1:02 left to draw Wittenberg within one point, but the Tigers closed out the game yielding a key offensive rebound to Allegheny and then turning the ball over with 11 seconds left to seal their fate.
Wittenberg was paced offensively by Sullivan with 19 points to go along with four steals and three rebounds. McKee added 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, but the Tigers' two starting post players both fouled out of the game with just three points and four rebounds in 35 combined minutes. Black picked up some of the slack off the bench, finishing with six points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Allegheny shot 46.5 percent from the floor for the game, compared to 36.4 percent for Wittenberg on 12 more attempts. Both teams committed 17 turnovers and corralled 31 rebounds in the game, although 14 of Wittenberg's caroms were at the offensive end. The difference in the game was free throw shooting as the Gators made good on 15-of-25, compared to 8-of-10 for Wittenberg.