GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Wittenberg Tigers hit the road for the first time in the 2009-10 season and the early returns were very positive. An efficient offense combined with a suffocating defense resulted in a surprisingly lopsided 70-45 victory over Catholic University of America in the first round of Gettysburg's Days Inn Tip-Off Tournament.
The Tigers improved to 2-0 on the young season and advanced to face Messiah College at 4 p.m. Saturday. Messiah defeated the host Gettysburg Bullets by 12 points in the first semifinal. Catholic dropped to 1-2.
The Tigers finished the first half with a flourish, expanding an 18-17 edge into a 35-23 halftime bulge. Then Wittenberg blitzed the Cardinals to start the second half, scoring 25 of the first 29 points and eventually expanding the margin to as many as 35 points.
Wittenberg showed great balance offensively, starting with senior guard David Nowicki (Carmel, Ind./Westfield), who hit his first three three-pointers of the game and went on to lead both teams with 17 points. Also reaching double figures for Wittenberg was senior guard Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union), who added 11 points. Five other Tigers scored six points in the game, while sophomore forward Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) was tremendous on the boards with a game- and career-high 11 caroms.
The bigger story was Wittenberg's defense, which limited Catholic to 30 percent shooting from the field. More importantly, the Cardinals finished just 4-of-26 from three-point range and 7-of-17 from the free throw line.