Wittenberg Falls At Wabash

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — Sometimes statistics do tell the whole story.

Wittenberg hadn't had a truly off night all season in rolling out to a top-five ranking going into the final week of the 2005-06 season, and they nearly survived on Wednesday at Wabash. However, a clutch three-pointer with just 35 seconds left by the host Little Giants turned the game around and gave Wabash a 51-46 victory.

The loss broke a nine-game win streak for the Tigers over Wabash, dating back to a 2002 Little Giants win, also on their home court. It dropped Wittenberg, which had comfortably handled Wabash in Springfield last month by a 63-48 margin, to 21-3 overall and 12-3 in the North Coast Athletic Conference with one game remaining in the 20050-06 regular season. The Tigers will salute three seniors on Saturday in the HPER Center prior to the start of the regular season finale against Allegheny. Tip time is 3 p.m. or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game, which is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.

Wabash, playing before a raucous crowd on Senior Night, enjoyed its first win this season against a nationally ranked opponent thanks to a strong defensive effort and a statistical deck stacked against the visiting Tigers. Wittenberg's three primary post players were all saddled with four fouls by game's end, limiting their effectiveness, and the Tigers posted their season-worst number in almost every statistical category. The gory details included 33 percent shooting from the field, including a paltry 1-of-13 from three-point range, and 21 Tiger turnovers, the team's second-highest total of the season and the most since committing 24 in the season opener against Tufts.

Even a 12-rebound advantage for Wittenberg was not enough to overcome all that. Even so, Wittenberg withstood a 14-point Wabash run to open the second half to re-take the lead at 44-43 with 3:04 remaining on a three-point play by senior post Dane Borchers. Two missed offensive opportunities later, the stage was set for Medeiros' heroics. He added two free throws and Kyle Coffey hit 3-of-4 from the charity stripe inside the final 20 seconds to finish the ice-cold Tigers off.

Borchers finished with a game-high 14 points and nine rebounds, while senior post Daniel Russ added 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. However, only six Wittenberg players found their way into the scoring column, and Russ and Borchers were the only players on the team to shoot 50 percent or better from the field. Wabash was led by Adonis Joseph with 13 points and Caleb Lyttle with 10. The Little Giants shot 39 percent from the field, but they committed five less turnovers than Wittenberg and hit four more three-pointers.

The loss will assuredly hurt the Tigers' national ranking, which had risen to No. 4 in the latest d3hoops.com poll, and Wittenberg could also drop in next week's all-important NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional rankings, in which the Tigers currently stand third. However, the loss doesn't affect Wittenberg's placement in the NCAC regular season title chase (2nd) and the Tigers' No. 2 seed in next week's NCAC Tournament.