Posted February 18 2001, 10:32 am
Posted by: Ryan Maurer
On Saturday, the Wittenberg University Tigers made it a clean sweep over the College of Wooster Fighting Scots as both the men and women extended late-season winning streaks and improved their positioning for the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference tournaments.
On the men's side, it was the biggest game for Wittenberg in several years and the Tigers responded with perhaps their most dominating half of basketball of the season. Wittenberg overwhelmed the host College of Wooster Scots, ranked No. 1 in the country and owners of a national-best 44-game home court win streak, with tenacious rebounding and clutch shooting in capturing a 94-80 victory.
The Tigers trailed for most of the first half before exploding. Wittenberg closed the half on an 8-2 run as junior guard Chad Mossing made two free throws, freshman forward Peter Walker came off the bench to contribute a three-point play, freshman guard Mark Borland made a short jumper and sophomore forward B.J. Harris chipped in with a free throw. Then Wittenberg opened the second half on an 8-0 run as senior center Chris Fillmore hit two layups and Borland and senior forward Ryan Taylor each hit short jump shots to expand the lead to 54-44 lead.
From that point, it was a veritable Red Swarm. Wittenberg, which hasn't been outrebounded all season and leads the nation in rebound margin at more than 14 per game, crushed the host team on the boards 23-9 in the second half. For the game, the difference was a stunning 58-25.
The heroes in the game were almost too many to count for Wittenberg. Borland played 27 minutes and scored 17 points, dished out five assists and committed just three turnovers. Taylor, the team's leading scorer who ranks ninth on the school's all-time scoring list, adding 17 points, including a clutch 3-for-3 performance from three-point range. Longley added a monster game with 18 points and 17 rebounds, including six offensive boards and a 9-of-14 shooting night from the field. Fillmore, who scored the team's first eight points in the first half, finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Off the bench, sophomore center Brian Gratsch had perhaps his finest game of the season, chipping in with eight points (3-for-3 FG) and four rebounds in 14 minutes of action.
The Tigers are now 21-2 overall and 15-1 in the NCAC, outright champions for the first time since the 1996-97 team completed a 14-2 regular season. That team went into the tournament as the top seed but was upset by third-seeded Wooster 51-44 on its home court.
Wittenberg heads into the NCAC competition with the No. 1 seed and will square off with No. 8 seeded Oberlin in the first round on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the HPER Center. A win there would propel the Tigers into the semifinals against the winner of Tuesday's first-round game between fourth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan and fifth-seeded Wabash.
On the women's side, Wittenberg struggled against Wooster on Senior Day before finally finding in the second half as well. The Tigers, who trailed 39-36 at halftime, routed the Scots 48-31 in the second half to claim an 84-70 victory.
The win assured the Tigers of a third-place finish in the league, the 12th straight year Wittenberg has finished among the top three in the NCAC. Wittenberg tied Earlham for third place, two games back of Ohio Wesleyan and Allegheny atop the league's regular season standings. OWU claimed the No. 1 seed based on tiebreaker criteria, while Earlham was awarded the No. 3 seed on a similar basis. As a result, Wittenberg will face fifth-seeded Denison on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the HPER Center. A win there would most likely send the Tigers on the road to play Friday's semifinals against the winner of the OWU-Wooster matchup on Tuesday.
On Saturday, the trio of sophomores who have carried the Tigers much of the season continued their heavy lifting, this time doing it off the bench. Three seniors, Natalie Estep of Fairborn, Ohio, Jamie Brafford of Monroe, Ohio and Melissa JayJohn were honored for their contributions to the program and started the game. Brafford led the seniors in scoring and rebounding with 10 points and five boards in 23 minutes of action.
The sophomore trio of guards Kate Rolf and Stephanie Campbell and forward Tiffany Keller scored 11, 16 and 12 points respectively, all hitting at least 45 percent of their shots from the field in the process. The Tigers shot 46.5 percent from the field, grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and committed just 16 turnovers to Wooster's 32.
Wittenberg is now 17-7 overall this year and finishes the 2000-01 NCAC regular season with an 11-5 mark. The Tigers have won five straight games since dropping a 68-60 decision to Allegheny on Feb. 2.