Springfield, Ohio – The Wittenberg men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought North Coast Athletic Conference battle to the Big Red of Denison University, 72-66. A 42 percent shooting night from the field, saw two Tigers finish the night scoring in double figures. Leading the charge for Wittenberg was Connor Seipel, posting 21 points to go along with his 10 rebounds, two blocks, two assists, and one takeaway. Wittenberg moves to 10-2 on the season and 4-1 in NCAC action.

Game Breakdown

Wittenberg battled back and forth with the Big Red through the opening minutes, taking their first lead of the game with just under two minutes to play in the half at 27-25. The Tigers went into the break converting on 41 percent of their attempts from the field, allowing Denison to make just 10 of 31 attempts. Coming out of the break with a 29-25 advantage, Wittenberg posted the first bucket of the second half extending their lead out to 31-25. The Tigers held off the Denison counterattack until the Big Red brought things back to even at 42-42 with just over 12-minutes remaining. The Tigers had to battle to keep the Big Red from extending their advantage out by more than just a few points over the final five minutes. The Big Red held a seven-point advantage with just under a minute to go, a pair of Wittenberg three-pointers by Mitchell Balser and James Johnson kept the Tigers within reach before the Big Red would seal the win from the foul line.

Who Stood Out

Seipel recorded his seventh double-double of the season for the Red and White, knocking down 9 of 13 attempts from the field. Landon Martin was the second Tiger to finish in double figures, posting 15 points on six of nine attempts from the field, adding four rebounds, four assists and a steal coming off the bench. Balser and Jacob Bertemes would each add on seven points with a rebound apiece. Johnson tallied five points and five rounds to go along with three steals.

UP NEXT

Wittenberg will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 5 when they host the Terroirs of Hiram College in an NCAC showdown at 3:00 PM.