Posted February 11 2001, 10:00 am
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
The Wittenberg University men's and women's basketball teams both faced must-win situations on Saturday - for very different reasons - and both emerged from the day's battles with much-deserved victories. The men, playing at home for the last time during the 2000-01 regular season, captured a hard-fought 74-71 victory over Allegheny. And the women, playing their final road game of the 2000-01 regular season, surprised preseason NCAC favorite Ohio Wesleyan 78-59 to keep their hopes alive for a first-round tournament home game on Feb. 20.
On the men's side, Wittenberg was expected to roll over Allegheny, a young team that has just five wins on the season and which lost to Wittenberg by more than 30 points earlier this season. But the Gators were more than a tough match on this day, taking the Tigers down to the wire on the strength of 10-of-16 shooting from three-point range and great hustle that resulted in 10 assists against just eight turnovers in the entire game.
After pulling out to a pair of double-digit leads midway through the second half, the Tigers couldn't shake the Gators, who fought back to tie the game at 71 with 54 seconds left. But sophomore forward B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) hit one of two free throws and, after an Allegheny miss, junior guard Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield) canned two free throws before a final three-pointer went awry for the Gators.
Senior forward Ryan Taylor (Waynesfield, Ohio/Goshen) led the Tigers with 15 points in the game, while sophomore forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler) spearheaded a tenacious rebounding effort with 16 caroms, including six on the offensive end, and nine points. While the Tigers shot just 38.3 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from the free throw line, they did the job on the glass as they have all season, outrebounding their 21st opponent by a margin of 56-31.
Wittenberg is now 19-2 overall and 13-1 in the NCAC, but there is no rest for the weary as the Tigers head into perhaps their most pivotal week of action yet. On Wednesday, the Tigers head to Richmond, Ind. for a showdown with Earlham, which defeated Wittenberg twice a year ago. Then on Saturday, a showdown for the conference championship takes place in Wooster as the Fighting Scots host a rematch in the season finale. That game's outcome will determine seeding order and home court advantage for the NCAC tournament, which begins on Feb. 20.
On the women's side, the Tigers have been inconsistent at best over the last month, but on Saturday they put some things together to shock preseason conference favorite and perennial powerhouse Ohio Wesleyan 78-59. The win improved the Tigers to 15-7 overall and 9-5 in the league and allowed them to keep pace with Denison, which upset league-leading Allegheny on Saturday, and Earlham for third place in the league standings. The top four teams in the standings earn first-round home games for the conference tournament on Feb. 20, so every win is a big one for the Tigers now.
After taking a 27-24 lead into the locker room at halftime, the Tigers came out firing on all cylinders in the second half to bury the Bishops. Sophomore guard Kate Rolf (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and junior forward Jill Swary (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) led the Tigers with 16 points apiece, while sophomore guard Stephanie Campbell (South Charleston, Ohio/Southeastern) hit for 12 points and recorded seven steals and sophomore forward Tiffany Keller (Massillon, Ohio/Tuslaw) grabbed nine rebounds. In one of the game's most crucial statistics, the Tigers outrebounded Ohio Wesleyan 43-32 in the game and Wittenberg also forced the Bishops into 35 percent shooting from the field.
Wittenberg returns home for a pair of games this week that will put the wraps on another successful season. On Wednesday, Denison comes calling in a game that will go a long way toward ironing out the aforementioned home-court advantage equation. And then on Saturday, the Tigers play host to Wooster on senior day, which will honor forward Jamie Brafford (Monroe, Ohio/Lakota), guard Natalie Estep (Fairborn, Ohio/Fairborn) and guard Melissa JayJohn (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington).