HOWARD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers sent an early message to the rest of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) - the five-time defending champions are on their game again in 2014-15.

Wittenberg pulled away for a first-place finish in the BSN Invitational at Apple Valley Golf Club, hosted by NCAC rival Kenyon. The 11-team field included eight of the 10 NCAC programs, in addition to Mount St. Joseph, John Carroll and Baldwin Wallace, but Wittenberg handled business with back-to-back stellar rounds to outdistance the host Lords by 18 strokes.

The Tigers carded scores of 292 and 289 to finish with a five-over-par 581 on the par-72, 6,946-yard course. Wittenberg led by five strokes after the first round before going even lower in more challenging conditions on Monday, finishing 13 strokes better than Kenyon.

All five Wittenberg players in the field posted a top-five finish, led by sophomore Sam Stilwell (Dominion, Va./Sterling) with his first-ever medalist performance. Stilwell followed his first-round 75 with a sizzling three-under-par 69 to card a collegiate-best total of 144 to beat senior teammate John Chaney (Gates Mills, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) by one stroke.

The other Tigers were part of a five-way tie for fourth place. Senior Alex Andrews (Kirtland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy), junior Sam Geise (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and senior Jared Wissinger (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) all finished with two-round totals of four-over-par 148.

The win was Wittenberg's third in five fall tournaments. The Tigers will return to action in March 2015 - the spring schedule will be available online soon.

Written By: Ryan Maurer