SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Barely one hour before a crucial North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) game against longtime rival Ohio Wesleyan, senior guard Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) was rushing back to Wittenberg's campus after attending the funeral for his grandfather in New Jersey. After a slow start, he drained five of his last six three-pointers to power the Wittenberg Tigers to a 64-62 come-from-behind victory.
The win moved the Tigers over the .500 mark for the first time in the 2010-11 season at 4-3 overall. More importantly, Wittenberg is one of just three NCAC teams unbeaten in the league heading into the holidays, sporting a 3-0 mark to sit one-half game behind nationally-ranked Wabash and No. 1 Wooster. Ohio Wesleyan dropped to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
The Tigers came out stone cold in the first half and were fortunate to keep the margin to 11 points, at 23-12 after an OWU three-pointer by Perry Freed. The lead was 11 again after OWU's Dre White hit a three-pointer at the 1:23 mark, which was followed by a Wittenberg turnover. However, after the Bishops missed a shot at the other end, Sullivan got off the schneid, making an off-balance three-pointer as the horn sounded to end the first half, his first field goal after five straight misses.
As a team, Wittenberg shot 35 percent from the field in the first half but 48 percent in the second. Junior forward Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) started the comeback, scoring the first six points of the second half and eight of Wittenberg's first 11, capped by a pair of free throws at the 15:24 mark that tied the game for the first time. The other three points in the half-opening 11-3 burst were provided by Sullivan.
Ohio Wesleyan moved back out to a six-point lead before sophomore guardCameron Walton (Waterville, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) drilled a three-pointer at the 11:05 mark. The lead was again six after a putback lay-up by OWU's Vaughan Spaulding at the 7:15 mark, but Sullivan drained a pair of long three-pointers in the ensuing 8-2 rally that earned the Tigers their first lead at 53-51 with 5:31 left.
Sullivan added another three-pointer and Black took over from there, scoring five straight points before freshman guard Steven Newell (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont)and junior forward Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South) hit 3-of-4 free throws in the 18 seconds to secure the victory.
Sullivan finished with 15 points and six rebounds on the night, while Black hit 7-of-9 from the floor and 11-of-11 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 25 points to go along with eight rebounds. Also of note was Newell's eight points in 23 solid minutes off the bench and five assists and five rebounds from Cooper in 23 minutes off the bench. It was his first appearance of the season after starring for the Tiger football team again in 2010.
Wittenberg, which was playing without starter Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) due to illness, finished with a 38-25 rebounding advantage in the game, which was key considering the Tigers committed an uncharacteristic 23 turnovers, compared to 16 for OWU. Wittenberg hit 17-of-20 from the free throw line, compared to 7-of-9 for OWU.