OBERLIN, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers took care of business against last-place Oberlin, making the long trip to northern Ohio a winning one with a 75-47 decision over the host Yeomen.
The win moved Wittenberg to 14-5 overall and 9-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), one game behind No. 1-ranked Wooster and two games ahead of Ohio Wesleyan and Wabash. Oberlin, which lost 81-45 to Wittenberg on Jan. 5 in Springfield, dropped to 1-19 overall and 0-11 in the conference. The Tigers have never lost to Oberlin since joining the NCAC in 1989.
The Tigers scored the game's first eight points and never looked back, expanding the lead to 47-20 by halftime. The margin never dropped below 22 points over the final 20 minutes as Wittenberg substituted liberally.
Fourteen players saw action for Wittenberg, playing at least three minutes apiece. No player saw more than 25 minutes of action as the Tigers shot 40 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line. Perhaps the most important team statistic in the final boxscore is rebounding - Wittenberg held a 45-26 lead in that area.
Individually, senior Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and juniorClayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) led with 13 points each. Black shared the individual rebounding honors with junior Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy), who also added 10 points, and freshman Steven Newell (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont), who was one of four Tiger players to score seven points in the game. Also of note, freshman Cole Bond (Canton, Ohio/St. Thomas Aquinas) saw his most extensive varsity action and he finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line in six minutes.