Tigers Optimistic at Start of Season

The Tigers, the winningest team in NCAA Division III history, return to action this weekend in a tip-off tournament at Wheaton (Ill.) College. Wittenberg will take on Mount Vernon Nazarene, an NAIA competitor, in the first round at Wheaton.

November 14, 2001
Longley

Longley

Rustad

Rustad

The Tigers, the winningest team in NCAA Division III history, return to action this weekend in a tip-off tournament at Wheaton (Ill.) College. Wittenberg will take on Mount Vernon Nazarene, an NAIA competitor, in the first round at Wheaton.

Leading the way for the Tigers in 2001-02 is junior forward Kevin Longley (Vandalia, Ohio/Butler), who was second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding on a team that led the nation in rebound margin at more than 14 per game in 2000-01. A second-team All-NCAC selection last year, Longley also paced the team in steals with 39 and ranked second in field goal percentage at .587. 

Also figuring prominently in the Tigers' plans are senior guard Greg Rustad (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), a long-range sharpshooter who started all 28 games last year and contributed 7.8 points per game, and junior forward B.J. Harris (Riverside, Ohio/Stebbins), who came off the bench to contribute 8.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. They will be joined in the 2001-02 rotation by two sophomores who gained valuable experience in their inaugural collegiate season, point guard Mark Borland (Kettering, Ohio/Archbishop Alter) and forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), senior three-point bomber Chad Mossing (Maumee, Ohio/Holland Springfield) and senior center Brian Gratsch (Madeira, Ohio/Madeira). Only Mossing didn't appear in all 28 games last year due to injury.

Wittenberg will be trying to extend its phenomenal string of non-losing seasons to 45 consecutive. The Tigers' last losing campaign was in 1955-56, and the current streak includes one .500 record, in 1967-68.