Roundup: Wittenberg Wins a Pair of NCAC Victories
The Tigers continued their impressive early season winning ways last week with a pair of North Coast Athletic Conference victories. The week started off with a solid 90-69 victory over visiting Wabash College on Wednesday, and rounded out with a hard-fought 72-66 road win at Allegheny College on Saturday.
Walker
Rustad
The Tigers continued their impressive early season winning ways last week with a pair of North Coast Athletic Conference victories. The week started off with a solid 90-69 victory over visiting Wabash College on Wednesday, and rounded out with a hard-fought 72-66 road win at Allegheny College on Saturday.
Against Wabash, the Tigers trailed for about 30 seconds in the opening minute of the game and then kicked it into overdrive, eventually breaking the game open with a 24-9 run in the last seven minutes of the first half.
The Tigers were led by a career night off the bench from sophomore forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), who poured in 21 points and seven rebounds. His previous high point total was 16 last year against Oberlin.
While Walker provided the energy off the bench, junior center B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins) had another outstanding offensive game from his starting center position. In just 23 minutes of action, Harris contributed 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. He was 7-of-9 from the floor in the game as he turned in his fourth double-double in six games this season.
Also finishing in double-figures for the balanced Tigers was junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who chipped in with 11 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late in the game.
The Tigers then took one of their longest road trips of the season Saturday. Despite some struggles, Wittenberg came away with a solid 72-66 win over Allegheny to run its record to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the NCAC.
Leading the charge against the Gators, a much-improved team with five returning starters off a youthful, last-place team a year ago, was senior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), who filled it up for a career-high 27 points. He was 8-of-15 from the floor in the game, including 5-of-11 from three-point range. He also added seven rebounds in the game, the second-best total on the team.
The best total in the rebounding category was turned in by junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who snared a career-high 16 rebounds, including six at the offensive end.