Tigers Open Up 2017-18 Campaign Win Over MSJ

MARIETTA, Ohio—The Tigers of Wittenberg opened play in the 2017-18 season on Friday afternoon, as the team traveled to Marietta College for the 2017 Great Lakes Invitational. Wittenberg took on Mount Saint Joseph in the first game of invitational play, a team that went 20-7 and lost in the HCAC championship game a year ago. Wittenberg returned key components to last year's team, but graduated most of their minutes. Coach Matt Croci's young team managed to not let the turnover bug derail their season opener, as the Tigers defeated MSJ 78-74 behind Chad Roy's 18-point performance.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Wittenberg led by as many as eight early in the season opener, but the Tigers and MSJ found themselves tied at 24-24 with 8:43 left in the first half. Landon Martin hit a jumper for the Tigers to take a 26-24 lead, as the Tigers would not trail or let MSJ tie things back up for the remainder of the first half. Wittenberg had a chance to pull away, as the red and white secured a ten-point lead after a Chris Sloneker layup with 3:35 remaining in the first half, but MSJ had other ideas, as the Tiger went into halftime with a 36-33 lead. It took nearly three minutes for either team to break the ice in the second half, as MSJ pulled within one with 17:39 remaining and the score at 36-35. Wittenberg would take over from this point on, as Jordan Pumroy bumped the Tiger lead up to six with 4:12 remaining in the game. Wittenberg would hang on by four at the final horn, 78-74 after Chad Roy hit two big free throws for the Tigers with seven seconds remaining.

WHO STOOD OUT: Roy led all scorers with 18 points on six of eight shooting, while the senior post player pulled down six rebounds and recorded one assist, one steal and one block. Jacob Bertemes chipped in 12 points in 18 minutes for the Tigers on four of five shooting while the sophomore dished out five assists and pulled down three boards. Mitchell Balser logged 31 minutes in his Tiger debut, tacking on 10 points on three of nine shooting for Wittenberg.

QUOATABLE: "Tonight was a really good win for us in this environment. We battled throughout and defended well. We had some guys step up down the stretch which always helps," said Coach Croci.

UP NEXT: Wittenberg concludes the 2017 Great Lakes Invitational with a 1:00 P.M. game tomorrow against Birmingham Southern University.