CHICAGO, Ill. — The Wittenberg Tigers picked up a career-high 24 points from junior Gregg Hill (Farmington Hills, Mich./Redford Union), but they couldn't put together enough of a rally to defeat Benedictine University in the season-opener at Wheaton College's Lee Pfund Classic.
By a score of 79-74, Wittenberg dropped its first season-opener in nine years, dating back to a loss to John Carroll that opened the 1998-99 season. The Tigers will square off with Kalamazoo, which lost to 10th-ranked Wheaton in the other first-round game Friday.
The key to this game was a poor start for the Tigers, who fell behind 46-33 in the first half. Benedictine inflicted most of the damage from behind the three-point line with 10 first-half treys in just 16 attempts.
Wittenberg got as close as three points in the late going, but poor shooting from three-point range and the free throw line kept the Tigers from the win. Wittenberg was just 5-of-25 from three-point range and 7-of-16 from the charity stripe, numbers that wipe out a 49-36 rebounding advantage as well as the fact that the Tigers finished with four less turnovers in the game.
Hill led all scorers with 24 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field, while junior Jeromy Romero (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) added 12 points and seven rebounds in 19 solid minutes off the bench. Senior Sam Gregory (Gainesville, Fla./Oak Hall)chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds in his first career starting assignment, while senior Brandan Barabino (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) also turned in a good statline, with six points, six rebounds and four assists despite foul problems that limited him to 18 minutes in his first career start.