SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—Wittenberg moved to 2-0 in NCAC play and 6-0 on the year with an 83-62 drubbing of the Allegheny Gators on Saturday. The Tigers led wire-to-wire, jumping out in front of Allegheny by as many as 26 in the NCAC bout. Mitchell Balser led the Tigers with 16 points, 13 of which came in the first 20 minutes on Saturday. The Tigers continue their NCAC schedule with DePauw on December 6.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Wittenberg and Allegheny were separated by four points for the first 12 minutes of action on Saturday, but the Tigers were able to pull away by 11 at 26-15 with 7:43 remaining in the first half. Balser extended the Tiger lead to 29-15 with 7:25 remaining after knocking home a three-pointer off of an assist from Michael Morgan. With 5:23 remaining before halftime, Balser slipped away from his defender yet again, splashing home another there, giving Wittenberg a 32-16 lead. With one minute remaining in the half, Jordan Pumroy knocked down a fade-away baseline jumper to put the Tiger's up 20 at 38-18. After taking a 40-20 lead into the break, Wittenberg came out in the second half and continued to fill it up, taking a 51-28 lead after a Landon Martin layup with 14:01 remaining. With 8:01 remaining freshman James Johnson splashed home a three to give the Tigers a 64-41 lead. Wittenberg would go on to dominate the remainder of the contest, as the final buzzer sounded with the Tigers up 83-62.
WHO STOOD OUT: Balser's 16 points came on six of ten shooting from the floor, including four of seven from behind the three-point land. Chad Roy and Pumroy cleaned up on the glass for the Tigers, each pulling down six boards in the NCAC victory. Pumroy finished the contest with ten points, six rebounds, two steals, and one block in an impressive performance coming off of the bench for the Tigers. Johnson (15) and Martin (13), rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Tigers, as Johnson connected on three triples in the game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Wittenberg continued their dominant streak on the glass, outrebounding the Gators 39-29 in the game, including 14 offensive boards. Shooting 29-64 (45.3%) from the floor, Wittenberg recorded assists on 16 of their 29 field goals, (55%). Wittenberg forced Allegheny into 22 turnovers in the contest, scoring 15 points off of those takeaways, while outscoring the Gators' bench 48-28.
UP NEXT: Wittenberg hits the road the next three games, starting with a 7:00 P.M. tip-off against the DePauw Tigers on Wednesday December 6.