Springfield, OH – The Wittenberg Men's Basketball team hosted their annual Holiday Classic from Pam Evans Smith Arena, defeating the Eagles from Juniata, 75-69. Led by the duo of James Johnson and Rashaad Ali-Shakir each finishing in double-figures, Johnson with a team-high 18 and Ali-Shakir with 16. Wittenberg put together a consistent 46 percent shooting night throughout the two halves of action, converting on 26 of 56 attempts from the floor. Johnson recorded his third double-double of the season, adding 13 rebounds to his total, pulling down 11 on the defensive end of the floor.

It was a back-and-forth battle through the first half, with the scoreboard flashing a tie score twice along with two lead changes through the first twenty-minutes of action. The Tigers and Eagles were evenly matched through the first-half, as Wittenberg posted nearly a 47 percent shooting mark from the field and Juniata compiling a 44 percent clip. Ali-Shakir led the Wittenberg scoring effort in the first half, posting eight points and coming up with a steal. As the two sides battled in the paint, Wittenberg held a 16-14 point advantage of the battle inside.

It was a quick start coming out of the intermission, as the Tigers outscored Juniata on a 5-2 run to open the first 90 second of action, extending their lead out to 39-29. Wittenberg got support from the bench with 18 points coming out of reserve. The back-and-forth battle continued into the second half, as Juniata narrowly outscored Wittenberg 42-41. The Tigers continued to lean on Johnson and Ali-Shakir down the stretch with each posting 10 second-half points. Johnson accumulated four rebounded and two assists to his total. Levi Boettcher made an impact at both end of the floor, scoring just four points in the second half. Boettcher added four boards, three assists and blocked two shots for the Tiger defense.

UP NEXT

Wittenberg will return to Pam Evans Smith for the final game of the Wittenberg Holiday Classic, taking on Albion College at 7:00 PM.