Springfield, OH – The Wittenberg University men's basketball team made their home debut from Pam Evans Smith Arena on Tuesday evening, defeating the Wilmington College Quakers, 64-57. The Tigers were led by Landon Martin and Josh Tolliver in the scoring effort each finishing in double-figures. Martin sliced his way through the Wilmington defense for 22 points, going 8 of 11 from the floor, adding five rebounds to his total. Tolliver provided 11 points, knocking down 4 of 5 from the field, including all three attempts from beyond the arc. Wittenberg converted on 23 of 50 attempts from the floor on the night, putting together a 10-point scoring run midway through the second half, which gave the Tigers' their largest lead of the evening at 13 points.
The two sides battled for the advantage through the early going, with Tolliver knotting things up at 15-15 with just under 9:30 to play in the first half. Wittenberg started to extend their lead in the closing minutes of the first half at 28-21 with just under four minutes remaining until the break. Martin tallied 13 of Wittenberg's 31 first-half points, adding four rebounds. Levi Boettcher and James Johnson cleaned up on the defense glass, reeling in five and four rebounds each through the first 20-minutes of action. Ridge Young facilitated the Tiger offense that knocked down 23 of 50 attempts from the floor, as the senior guard logged six assists with three steals.
"Really excited about how our defense played tonight," said Head Coach Matt Croci, "It felt good to get back on the home floor and get a win."
NCAC LEADERS
Martin has moved into the top five scorers in the conference, averaging 18.5 points per game. Young still holds the fourth spot in FG%, converting on 60.6 percent of his attempts from the floor. Averaging nearly five assists per game, Young also ranks second amongst the NCAC.
UP NEXT
Wittenberg will return to action on Saturday, December 4 traveling to Hiram College for their first NCAC contest of the season. Tip-off against the Terriers is set for 3:00 PM.