CINCINNATI, OH - A 21-2 run by the home team broke open a close game and send Mount St. Joseph to on its way to a 72-63 victory over Wittenberg Men's Basketball in a rare Thanksgiving-eve afternoon affair.
The loss was Wittenberg's third straight after the Tigers had opened the 2024-25 season with a pair of wins under first-year head coach Darren Hertz. It was the second straight game played without leading scorer Trey Killens (Cincinnati, OH/Mason) and the first without second-leading scorer Tyler Galluch (Springfield, OH/Catholic Central). Both players were unavailable due to injury.
Mount St. Joseph, which won for the second time in six all-time meetings with the Tigers, improved to 4-3 on the season.
Wittenberg scored the game's first five points, but MSJ responded with an 8-0 burst. After that, the two teams traded blows throughout the opening half before settling into a 30-25 Lion advantage at the break. After each team recorded a traditional three-point play, the Lions broke the game open with the aforementioned scoring burst that covered nearly 10 minutes.
Both teams shot a similar percentage from the field (40.4 for Wittenberg to 42.6 for MSJ), while making the same number of field goals. The Lions made four more three-pointers in the game, and MSJ also made five more free throws. The Tigers actually won the rebounding battle, 39-28, but Wittenberg committed three more turnovers (12-9).
Individually, Wittenberg was paced by Cameron Harrison (Eaton, OH/National Trail) with 19 points. Offensive support came from an unlikely source as freshman Spence Davidson (Lebanon, OH/Lebanon) scored the first 14 points of his collegiate career in just 11 minutes off the bench. He was 5-of-5 from the field in the game. Eddie Brown (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy Orange) led the way in rebounding with seven to go along with six points, Dawson Scott (New Castle, IN/New Castle) finished with nine points and six rebounds, and AJ Taylor (Columbus, OH/Wellington) chipped in with six points and six rebounds in his first collegiate starting assignment.