SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — After a 90-60 victory over visiting Allegheny, Wittenberg freshman Steven Newell (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) has a new career-high point total and the Tigers have a new lease on life atop the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) standings.
With four games left to play, the Tigers are now 15-5 overall and 11-1 in the NCAC, good for a first-place tie with Wooster after the Scots dropped an overtime decision at home to Wabash on Saturday. Wittenberg faces a challenging final stretch, including road games at Ohio Wesleyan, Wabash and Hiram and a home date on Saturday, Feb. 12 opposite the No. 1-ranked Scots. Allegheny, which also lost to Wittenberg 81-66 on the Gators' home floor on Dec. 4, dropped to 5-16 overall and 2-11 in the NCAC.
Newell scored six of the game's first eight points as the Tigers jumped out to a 10-0 lead through the first four minutes. The Gators managed to pull no closer than five points the rest of the way, although they did put together a spirited comeback midway through the second half, cutting a 19-point halftime advantage to 11 points on three different occasions, the last coming on a three-pointer by Ryan Stanko at the 11:45 mark.
From that point, Wittenberg dominated, outscoring the Gators 33-14 even while emptying the bench. By game's end, 15 Tigers saw action in the game, with 11 of them finding their way into the scoring column of the final boxscore.
Wittenberg shot an even 50 percent from the field in the game, including 12-of-25 from three-point range. The Tigers' 90 points matched a season best, as did their 21 assists on 31 made field goals. Many of the helpers came on well executed passing out of the post, where Tiger big men often found themselves under pressure of double teams. Newell knocked down 5-of-8 from long range, all of which came off assists from Wittenberg post players, and 7-of-11 overall en route to 21 points - his previous collegiate-best scoring total was 10 points. He even added two assists and four rebounds in 23 tremendous minutes of action.
Wittenberg also finished with 50 rebounds in the game, matching a season high, compared to 32 for the Gators. Junior Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) led the way in that department with 10 boards to go along with 14 points. Also of note, senior Seth Hill (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) turned in another fine game off the bench with 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, and junior Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) contributed a tremendous stats line, finishing with 11 points, six rebounds and a career-best six assists.
Allegheny was limited to 37 percent shooting from the field, and the Gators also struggled from the free throw line, finishing just 6-of-14. Stanko led with 14 points off the bench, while Devone McLeod added 12 points and four assists.