SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers finally got their offense on track in the closing moments, but it wasn't enough as their rally came up just short in a 63-59 loss to Wooster.
Wittenberg fell to 9-14 overall and 7-9 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) with the defeat, while Wooster solidified its position in second place in the league with records of 18-5 overall and 12-4 in the NCAC. The Tigers, who remain in a three-way tie for fifth place with Denison and Allegheny, have two regular season league games remaining against Kenyon and Hiram.
Wooster started out the game ice cold, but Wittenberg was unable to capitalize. The Scots didn't score a point for the first 6:23 of the game but the Tigers managed just six points of their own. Wooster finally got the offense in gear midway through the first half, taking the lead with an 11-0 run.
The Scots stretched the lead to as many as 14 points before settling for a 28-18 halftime advantage. Over the first nine minutes of the second half, things only got worse for the ice cold Tigers, who found themselves trailing 47-31 with 11:39 remaining.
Wittenberg never gave up, however, whittling the Wooster lead all the way down to three points on two occasions in the final 15 seconds. The Scots' Xavier Brown hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to secure the win.
Free throws were actually a key storyline in the game, as Wittenberg finished just 17-of-33 from the charity stripe. At one point midway through the second half, the Tigers stood 7-of-20 on free throws, including multiple missed front-ends of one-and-one opportunities.
Wittenberg shot 39.6 percent from the field, compared to 40.9 percent for the Scots, who hit three more three-pointers in the game than the Tigers. Wittenberg held a 42-28 rebounding advantage in the game, led by junior Alex Fultz (Batavia, Ohio/Glen Este) with eight and sophomore Jaelin Williams (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) with seven.
Offensively, sophomore Cody Phillippi (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) led Wittenberg with 15 points, and Williams added 11. Sophomore Landon Hormann (West Liberty, Ohio/Salem) chipped in with seven points off the bench.
Written By: Ryan Maurer