ROCHESTER, NY — The Wittenberg Tigers jumped out to a 9-0 lead to open the game and used a record-breaking three-point barrage by senior Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) to secure a 67-57 victory over Washington & Jefferson in the first round of the UR/HIA Tournament, hosted by the University of Rochester.
Sullivan capped the game-opening nine-point burst with the first of his eight three-pointers, one shy of both the Wittenberg record and the UR/HIA Tournament mark. He attempted 17 treys in the game, tops in Tiger and tournament history, en route to a career-high 30 points. No other Wittenberg player reached double figures in scoring on the night, but Sullivan's exploits were plenty to keeps the Presidents at bay and move Wittenberg into Sunday's title game against the winner of the Pittsburgh-Bradford/Rochester first-round match-up.
Outside of Sullivan's 9-of-18 shooting from the field, Wittenberg actually struggled for a second straight game at the offensive end, managing just 10-of-37 shooting, including 2-of-12 from long distance. The Tigers made up for it by forcing 21 Washington & Jefferson turnovers and narrowly winning the rebounding battle, 39-37. Wittenberg also enjoyed a significant advantage from the free throw line, making 19-of-28, compared to 7-of-12 for the Presidents.
Five other Wittenberg players scored at least six points in the game, including sophomore Cameron Walton (Waterville, Ohio/Anthony Wayne) with a career-best eigtht points in 18 minutes off the bench, and junior Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) with six points and nine rebounds in his first start of the season. Also of note was the performance of sophomore Ian Quick (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville), who contributed six points and seven rebounds in his first start since transferring to Wittenberg from Mount Vernon Nazarene.
The win moved the Tigers to 1-2 overall on the young season, while Washington & Jefferson dropped to 2-3.