SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – In the game of basketball, there are nights when the ball simply refuses to go through the hoop. The Wittenberg men's basketball team experienced one of those nights at a most inopportune time, shooting 28.6 percent from the field in a 60-41 setback against arch-rival Wooster.
The win avenged a pair of narrow losses to the Tigers during the 2011-12 season, when Wooster lost first on a buzzer-beating putback and two months later in overtime. The 16th-ranked Scots improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), while the Tigers tasted defeat for the first time in the 2012-13 season, dropping to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the NCAC.
Wittenberg scored the first two points of the game, but the Scots quickly gained control with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes. As the Tigers repeatedly saw open looks rim out, Wooster methodically built a 30-16 halftime lead.
The Scots controlled the pace throughout, thanks in large part to a dominating performance on the boards. Wooster pulled down 41 rebounds, compared to 25 for Wittenberg, although the Tigers did own a 12-10 advantage at the offensive end and the Scots committed six more turnovers in the game as well.
Individually, Wittenberg was led by junior Scott Masin (New Carlisle, Ohio/Bethel) with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. The next best offensive performance was supplied by sophomore John Albertson (Morrow, Ohio/Little Miami), who contributed six points on 3-of-4 shooting off the bench. All three of Albertson's rebounds came at the offensive end.
Wooster shot 51 percent for the game, including 7-of-16 from three-point range. Six different players scored at least six points.
The Tigers finished with their lowest offensive output since the 1985-86 season, although Wittenberg won both of those games, 40-32 against Ohio Northern and 40-38 against Muskingum. The last time the Tigers were held to 41 points in a loss was against Central Michigan in the fourth game of the 1982-83. Wittenberg bounced back that year to advance all the way to the national championship game before losing 64-63 to Scranton in the NCAA Division III Tournament.