SPRINGFIELD — An 18-0 run midway through the second half sparked the third-seeded Wittenberg men's basketball team to a 71-59 victory over sixth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (18-8 overall), Ohio Wesleyan (11-15 overall)
• Venue: Pam Evans Smith Arena - Springfield, Ohio
• Tournament Site
• Tournament Bracket
• Tournament Preview
• Wittenberg swept both games against Ohio Wesleyan during the regular season, winning 85-80 in overtime on Dec. 2 and 81-67 on Jan. 20.
• The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Stat Leaders

• Junior Cameron Harrison (Eaton, Ohio/National Trail) led the Tigers with 14 points. He made all three of his 3-point attempts and all three of his free throws in the game.
• Junior Trey Killens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason) stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds and six assists.
• Sophomore Eddie Brown (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) tallied his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
• Senior Jeff Queen (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and freshman Grayson Steury (Ashland, Ohio/Ashland) added eight points each.
• Henry Hinkle led the Battling Bishops with 20 points.

The Game

• The teams played a tightly contested first half that ended with Wittenberg taking a 32-31 lead into halftime.
• The Tigers opened the second half with a layup from Brown and a 3-pointer from Harrison to extend the lead to six, 37-31.
• The Bishops answered with a 6-0 run to tie the score.
• Leading 41-39 with 14:59 remaining, the Tigers caught fire for an 18-0 run for a 20-point edge, 59-39, with 10:03 remaining.
• The run started with a jumper from Queen followed by a 3-pointer from Killens.
• In all, the run came via eight points from Killens, six from Steury and two each from Queen and freshman Tyler Galluch (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central).
• The Tigers maintained control of the game the rest of the way en route to the 71-59 win.
• Wittenberg shot 45.3% from the floor, made eight 3-pointers on 53.3% shooting from beyond the arc and was 15-of-16 from the foul line for 93.8%
• Ohio Wesleyan shot 36.7% from the floor, made six 3-pointers on 21.4% shooting from beyond the arc and was 9-of-13 from the foul line for 69.2%.
• The Tigers out-rebounded the Bishops by a 40-30 margin and finished with a 22-6 edge in bench points.

Post-Game Quotes

• Sophomore Eddie Brown on the win: "This is great for us. It means more basketball for us and another chance to go out and compete."
• Brown on his performance in Tuesday's game: "I just did what I could to help our team with crashing the glass and getting some points in the paint. I just did what I could to help us win."
• Head coach Matt Croci on his team's strong second half: "I thought the guys that came off the bench really gave us a spark, and Trey kind of settled down. Ohio Wesleyan did a really nice job of guarding Trey and making him work. He struggled a little bit in the first half but kind of settled down and got some better looks. Cam hit a couple transition threes, and when guys see the ball go in, they get excited and tend to defend a little better. That spark in the middle of the second half was big."
• Croci on what it means for his team to advance to the tournament semifinals: "I'm really excited for our seniors. Our seniors have not had an opportunity to play in a semifinal game yet in their careers, and they've earned the right to be there. They've been through a lot, so I'm really excited for them to get to practice two more days and play another game and extend their careers."

Records & Milestones

• The Tigers are seeking their 19th all-time appearance in the tournament championship game and their eighth tournament title, including their first title since winning back-to-back crowns in 2018 and 2019.
• Wittenberg is now 129-57 all-time against Ohio Wesleyan.
• Eighth-year head coach Matt Croci is now 142-59 all-time at Wittenberg.
• Killens has 960 career points, making him just 40 shy of 1,000. He has 492 points this season, which is 46 shy of breaking into the program's all-time top 10 for points in a season. He entered Tuesday's game ranked second in the NCAC in points per game (19.2) and third in assists per game (3.4).

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Friday at 5 p.m. to face second-seeded Wooster in the NCAC Tournament semifinals at site host Wabash.