SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—Wittenberg men's basketball returned to action looking to climb back to .500 in the conference against the Gators of Allegheny on Saturday, as the Tigers have slipped to fifth place in the league as of late. The Tigers started off slow, but quickly turned the contest into a laugher as the Tigers lead by as many as 24 in the contest. Jaelin Williams was a catalyst for the Tigers on offense all afternoon, exploding for 20 points on six of 11 shooting to pace the red and white. In the end, Wittenberg managed to dispose of Allegheny 87-71 in a game that saw 47 personal fouls. Wittenberg now sits at 11-6 overall in 2016-17 and 5-5 in NCAC play.

GAME BREAKDOWN

• The Gators had the hot hand at the beginning of the game, as the visitors splashed home multiple three-pointers in the early minutes to go up 6-0, forcing Coach Croci into an early timeout.
• Wittenberg knotted the game up at 12-12 before going on a run, capped off by a Williams three-pointer to give the red and white a 25-14 lead.
• Chris Sloneker has been a spark off the bench all year for Wittenberg, as the junior continued to do the dirty work on the boards for the Tigers in the half, as well as score the final points of the half to send the Tigers into the locker-room with a 37-27 lead.
• Michael Morgan Jr. has also been a sparkplug for the Tigers, as the freshman defensive force got in on the offense, netting a layup in the second half to put the Tigers up 60-37 with 13:12 remaining in the contest.
• Cody Phillippi has been the Tigers best free-throw shooter all year long, as the senior guard sent both of his throws through the bottom of the net with 5:45 remaining to give the Tigers a 76-59 lead.  
• The Tigers stood tall in the end, dropping the Gators 87-71 at the final buzzer.

KEY STATS

• Wittenberg outrebounded the Gators 37-27, and dominated the paint, scoring 50 of their 87 points down in the post.
• Leading by as many as 24, the Tigers forced Allegheny into 18 turnovers, scoring 24 points off those miscues.
• Williams and Phillippi combined for 35 points, as Landon Hormann and Shane Edwards combined for 24 points in a total team effort.

 UP NEXT

• Wittenberg returns to action against the Tigers of DePauw next Wednesday at 7:00PM in Greencastle, Indiana.