Wittenberg men survive road scare

The Wittenberg University men's basketball team survived a scare on Saturday night, outlasting the Hiram Terriers 85-81 in overtime. The Tigers improved to 17-2 overall this year and remained atop the North Coast Athletic Conference with an 11-1 mark.

Leading 76-71 with 10 seconds left in regulation, Hiram bounced back to hit a layup, force a turnover and then bury a three-pointer with one second remaining to force overtime. In the extra session, senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) hit a layup, junior guard Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield) canned a three-pointer, and senior center Chris Fillmore (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) and junior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) both hit two free throws to secure the victory.

Wittenberg was without the services of starting senior point guard Kyle Krauss (Deshler, Ohio/Patrick Henry), who suffered a broken hand in Wednesday's win over Earlham. The Tigers were led by Mossing's season-high 18 points, which included a 6-of-9 performance from behind the three-point arc. As a team, the Tigers shot 44.8 percent from three-point land in the game. Taylor chipped in with 17 and Rustad rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13. All 10 Tigers who saw action scored.

No rest for the weary, as the Tigers head back into NCAC action on Wednesday. The Wabash Little Giants, one of the team's nipping at Wittenberg's heels in the conference standings, comes calling at the HPER Center in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.