DELAWARE, Ohio—#5 Wittenberg men's basketball fell to Ohio Wesleyan for their second straight loss of the season on Wednesday. This marks only the second loss on the year for the Tigers but they have now dropped two in a row and host conference rival Wooster on Saturday. Wittenberg was only down three points going into the final minute of the game but could not out duel Ohio Wesleyan before time expired in the 85-80 loss. Wittenberg moves to 22-2 (15-2) with their regular season finale remaining, while Ohio Wesleyan now sits at 16-8 (11-6) overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Tigers and Battling Bishops kept trading baskets to start the game before a Landon Martin layup with 13:49 remaining in the first half put the score at 12-10. From there Wittenberg kept on pouring in points, helped by a five-minute Ohio Wesleyan scoring drought, to climb to its largest lead of 19 after at Chad Roy layup with 9:35 left in the first half. The Tigers could not stop the Battling Bishops after that, allowing 28 points to bring the game to the midway point, giving Ohio Wesleyan the lead by one at 38-37. The second half started much like the first with both teams trading blows late into the half. The game remained knotted up at 76 a piece following a three-point shot by Mitchell Balser with 4:38 remaining in the game. The Tigers would not take a share of the lead again in the contest as the clock ran out with a final score of 85-80.
WHO STOOD OUT: Roy's 24 points marked the seventh time the senior has scored 20 plus points in a contest this season. He was joined in double digit scoring by Connor Seipel and James Johnson who both put up 15 points, Johnson's off the bench. The two big men in Roy and Seipel paced the Tigers pulling down eight and nine boards respectively, narrowly missing double-double performances.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Both Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan shot the ball well, ending the night at 47.8% and 46.5% from the field. The Tigers cleaned up on the glass, pulling down 45 rebounds to the Battling Bishops 31 in the contest. Ohio Wesleyan pulled up from behind the arc 44 times, connecting on 13 shots. The Tigers had trouble taking care of the ball, committing 12 turnovers to Ohio Wesleyans six.
UP NEXT: Wittenberg takes on conference rival Wooster in its regular season finale on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 7:30 P.M. in Pam-Evans Smith Arena.