SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Over 38 minutes of game action, the Wittenberg Tigers couldn't shake the Olivet Comets. Trailing 49-48 with 1:47 left in the game, however, the Tigers rallied in a most improbable way, making good use of a pair of in-bounds plays to score lay-ups and kickstart a game-ending 7-0 run that led to a 55-49 victory in the first round of the 2009 Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic.
The win moved the Tigers to 8-2 on the season and into the championship game for the 26th time in the 27 years Wittenberg has hosted an in-season tournament. Wittenberg will face Marian, which defeated Ohio Dominican in the other first round game, for the fourth time in the tournament title game at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30. Olivet, which dropped to 4-6, will face Ohio Dominican in the consolation game at 2:15 p.m.
The Tigers led almost the entire game, but the Comets rallied from a 47-39 deficit at the 6:50 mark of the second half to take a 49-48 lead with 2:59 left on a lay-up by Michael McClary. After a flurry of action that netted no points for either side, the Tigers were faced with an in-bounds situation with 1:47 remaining. Senior postMark Snyder (Celina, Ohio/Parkway Riverside) found senior guard David Nowicki (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) cutting through the lane for a lay-up.
After Olivet missed a shot at the other end, Wittenberg picked up a pair of offensive rebounds off shots that didn't hit the rim. Facing an in-bounds situation with just two seconds left on the shot clock, Snyder again triggered the in-bounds play to perfection, finding sophomore forward Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) for a twisting lay-up of his own and a crucial three-point lead. Snyder added two free throws with 23 seconds left after Olivet missed a shot and senior wing Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union) capped the rally with a free throw at the eight-second mark to close out the game.
Neither team shot well from any spot on the floor as the Tigers hit 32 percent from the field, compared to 33 percent for Olivet, including 4-of-25 from three-point range for Wittenberg, as opposed to 2-of-19 for the Comets. From the line, things weren't much better, as Wittenberg went 9-of-15, compared to Olivet's 9-of-18.
The difference in the game was a 55-35 rebounding advantage in favor of the Tigers, including 20 offensive caroms. As a result, Wittenberg took advantage of nine more shot attempts.
Individually, Hill led the Tigers with 12 points and five rebounds, while Snyder added nine points and 10 rebounds. Sophomore wing Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) contributed nine points and four boards, while Black finished with nine points and three rebounds in 24 solid minutes off the bench.
Olivet was paced offensively by Nathan Jennings with 18 points, although 15 of those came in the first half. McClary contributed 13 points and a tournament-high 14 rebounds.