Posted January 27 2001, 07:17 pm
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg University men's basketball team walloped the visiting Oberlin College Yeomen, 85-50; the Wittenberg University women's basketball team methodically picked apart the Oberlin College Yeowomen 62-49; and the Wittenberg University men's and women's swimming teams clobbered Case Western Reserve University by scores of 136-87 (men) and 137.5-90.5 (women) on Saturday in a busy day at the HPER Center.
First, the men's basketball team, which won its ninth straight at home and seventh straight overall to improve to 15-2 and 9-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. In this game, the Tigers took the Yeomen's best shot in the first half and then dominated Oberlin in the second half 51-22.
Leading by six going into the locker room at halftime, the Tigers turned it up in the final 20 minutes, featuring a balanced offensive attack and their usual stinginess at the other end. Sophomore forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) led the Tigers with 15 points and nine rebounds, while senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) chipped in with 12 points and three assists, and senior center Chris Fillmore (Barberton, Ohio/Barberton) added nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Tigers outrebounded their visitors 42-27, customary for the nation's top rebounding team in terms of per-game margin. Wittenberg also shot 44 percent from the field, including another stellar outing from the free throw line (20-of-27).
Wittenberg, which sits tied atop the NCAC with Wooster, faces an important week of action upcoming with a home date against Earlham on Wednesday and a road game on Saturday at Hiram. The Quakers are one of the league's top four teams currently and upended the Tigers last year.
The women's team continued to have problems putting the ball in the hoop on Saturday, as they have regularly during a difficult stretch of recent games, but the Tigers put things together enough to down Oberlin, 62-49.
Sophomore guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) is one player who isn't struggling offensively these days as she dropped in 7-of-10 shots from the field for a game-high 21 points. In support, the Tigers got stellar games from two post players - senior center Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota) with 10 points and five rebounds and sophomore center Rebecca Meers (Moline, Ill./Moline) with nine points and six rebounds.
The Tigers, who started the season 8-1 and ranked nationally at No. 22, improved to 12-6 overall and 6-4 in the NCAC with the win. They outrebounded the visiting squad 38-32 and also shot 43 percent from the field and 75 percent from the free throw line.
A critical week lies ahead for the women's team as well. The Tigers face undefeated conference leader Allegheny in a home match-up on Friday night before coming back 24 hours later for a home date with the Hiram Terriers.
Also at the HPER Center on Saturday, the men's and women's swimming completed their best dual meet regular seasons in years, both taking the measure of visiting Case Western Reserve University to improve to identical 7-4 records.
On the men's side, senior Aaron Edsall (Circleville, Ohio/Circleville) was the team's lone double-winner on the day as he prepares for the NCAC Championships in Canton, Ohio on Feb. 8-10 and, hopefully, a return trip to the national meet in March.
On the women's side, three swimmers recorded multiple first-place finishes on Saturday. Senior Melanie Edsall (Circleville, Ohio/Circleville), sophomore Rachel Juergens (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) and junior Paula Hauser (Mason, Ohio/Mason) all won two events, Juergens in distance races and the other two adding relay wins to individual victories.
The Tigers are now off for a week as they train for the NCAC Championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio Feb. 8-10. Head Coach Bob Rueppel is hopeful that the Tigers, who put together winning dual meet records for the first time in almost a decade, will show well there and advance numerous swimmers to the national events, scheduled for back-to-back weekends in March.