Springfield, OH- The No. 3 Wittenberg Tigers met Kenyon for the 113th time in program history on Saturday afternoon, taking down the Lords from Kenyon College 75-65. Wittenberg battled the Lords through the early going, holding off their North Coast Athletic Conference foe at the break by a score of 41-32. The Red and White were able to stretch their lead out to nine points through the first twenty minutes of action, going on a 6-0 run just before the half. Knocking down 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Tigers led in nearly all statistical categories including, rebounds, second-chance points (8), and points in the paint (20). Five Tigers tallied double figures, while James Johnson and Connor Seipel each recorded a double-double on the day. Johnson led the Tiger scoring effort with 15 points, grabbing 12 rebounds on the day. The Tiger offense knocked down 41 percent of their shots from the floor on the day, converting on 61 percent from the free-throw line.
Game Breakdown
Landon Martin and Jake Bertemes led the Tiger scoring effort at the break, posting eight points apiece. Seipel pulled down six rebounds to start the afternoon, adding five points, on his way to recording his eighth double-double of the season. Seipel finished the day with 11 points, pulling down 13 rebounds to go along with two steals. The Red and White kept their foot on the gas in the second half, record an 11 point scoring run, as the Tigers saw their lead extend out to 18 points with just under five minutes in the game. Rashaad Ali-Shakir added eight points to his total in the second half, finishing the day with 14, knocking down 5 of 11 from the floor.
NCAC Leaders
Seipel is currently first in the NCAC for rebounds per game picking up an average of 11.0, topping the conference in field goal percentage, knocking down 69.2 percent from the floor. Johnson joins Seipel atop the NCAC leader board, leading the Tigers in three-point shooting percentage, landing in the Top 10 for 3pt-FG%, ranking second amongst the NCAC with 17 blocked shots along the way.
Up Next: Wittenberg will be back on the road for a match-up with the Big Red of Denison University on Wednesday, Jan. 8. Tip-off is at 7:30 PM.