Gregg Hill
HIRAM, Ohio - In a loss that not many could have seen coming, the Wittenberg men's basketball team dropped a lopsided 92-74 decision to the upstart Hiram Terriers, who have now won the last three meetings between the two teams. Wittenberg picks up their first loss on the year in their North Coast Athletic Conference opener, moving to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC.
Three minutes into the game the score was 7-6 in favor of the Terriers, and their lead would grow throughout most of the rest of the game. The traditionally tight Wittenberg defense allowed Hiram to score 47 points in the first half, just a few days after Hiram finished their first period against Oberlin with just 14 points, going on to score only 49 in the game.
The highlight of the game for Wittenberg came with 14:43 left in the first half, when senior guard Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union) sunk his sixth point of the night and 1,000th point of his career on a free throw. He became just the 30th Tiger in the team's 98 seasons to reach the mark.
Hiram, however, held a definite home-court advantage. The game was delayed an hour and a half as the Tigers sat couped up on the team bus on I-71 heading north, spending six hours making a three-hour trip thanks to traffic resulting from an accident on the major thoroughfare. Hiram, with fully stretched legs, outrebounded Wittenberg 41-30, including an overwhelming 29-9 margin around the Tigers' own hoop. The Terriers also maintained a strong shooting percentage, sinking 29-of-56 shots for 51.8 percent. Hiram was even better from long range, hitting 9-of-17 for 52.9 percent sharpshooting.
The Tigers were not much different from the field, hitting 26-of-61 attempts, including nine three-pointers to match Hiram's nine. The real difference came from the free-throw line, where Hiram shot 34 free-throws thanks to 25 Tiger fouls. The Terriers sank 25 of the free shots and piled on a 34-26 advantage in the paint.
On the upside for the Tigers, the Wittenberg bench revealed significant depth in supplying 40 points, a much-need asset for the stretch run.
Individually, junior guard Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) paced the team with 17 points on 6-of-10 overall shooting, 3-of-6 from three-range and 2-of-3 at the line. Sophomore post Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) led with five rebounds.
Hill finished the night with 13 points, second on the roster, while freshman wingDavid Hieber (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) made the most of the loss with the best offensive performance of his young collegiate career. He scored 10 points, third on the team, on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from long range.
The Tigers return to the friendly confines of Pam Evans Smith Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 9, with a 7:30 p.m. opportunity to even up their NCAC record when they host the Kenyon Lords, led by head coach and Tiger alumnus Matt Croci.
Written by: John Strawn '07