DELEWARE, OHIO—Wittenberg men's basketball kicked off the NCAC/OAC Challenge with a 56-49 victory over the Cardinals of Otterbein on Tuesday night. The Tigers dominated the first half of the game, but the Cardinals controlled the pace early on in the second half, making a game out of things at Branch Rickey Arena, on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University. In the end, the Tigers fought off the Cardinals late surge, working the ball inside and capitalizing on defensive pressure down the stretch. Wittenberg now squares off against Capital University on November 29 as the NCAC/OAC Challenge continues.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• With 8:24 remaining in the first half, Wittenberg doubled-up on Otterbein, 24-12 as Ryan Gallimore led the Tigers with nine points.  
• Later in the first half, Otterbein found themselves on an 8-2 run to cut the Tigers lead to 26-17, before two Jaelin Williams free-throws put the Tigers back up 11.
• Just before the half, a Jordan Pumroy layup put Wittenberg up 32-19 before an Otterbein deep-ball sent the teams into halftime at 32-22.
• Otterbein's zone caused the Tigers problems earl on in the second half, while the Cardinals shooting made the game close early on.
• Wittenberg allowed the Cardinals to climb back in the game to 50-45 before Landon Hormann and Chad Roy extended the lead to 53-47.
• Wittenberg held on strong at the end, downing the Cardinals 56-49 for the team's second win of 2016.

KEY STATS

• Despite turning the ball over 18 times, Wittenberg and Otterbein both ended up with 13 points a piece off of turnovers.
• Wittenberg outscored the OAC team 22-10 in the paint, while leading by as many a 15 points early on.
• Gallimore paced the Tigers offense with 12 points, while Hormann chipped in 11.