Roundup: Tigers' Season Off To Strong Start
The Wittenberg men's basketball team is off to its customary strong start, posting a 3-1 record through the first two weeks of the 2004-05 season. Blessed with talent and experience, the Tigers went 1-1 at the Washington University Lopata Classic to open the season, falling only to the nationally ranked host team by three points in the championship game, and then rebounded last week with a pair of lopsided wins.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team is off to its customary strong start, posting a 3-1 record through the first two weeks of the 2004-05 season. Blessed with talent and experience, the Tigers went 1-1 at the Washington University Lopata Classic to open the season, falling only to the nationally ranked host team by three points in the championship game, and then rebounded last week with a pair of lopsided wins.
The season opened with a 73-55 win over Whittier on Nov. 19 in the opening game of the Lopata Classic. Senior wing Andy Bucheit (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) set the tone with a three-pointer to open the game and the Tigers never looked back. Wittenberg never gave up the lead, easing out to a 33-25 halftime lead and then putting the game away with a 17-2 run midway through the second half that stretched a five-point lead into a 55-35 advantage.
Bucheit and senior guard Danny Brywczynski (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) each drained four three-pointers in the game and finished with 16 and 14 points respectively. As a team, the Tigers were scalding hot with 12-of-16 three-point shooting. Junior post players Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) and Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) were solid on the interior as a balance to the hot outside shooting. Borchers started and finished with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Russ, nursing a leg injury, finished with 10 boards off the bench.
In the championship game, Washington University held off a second-half charge from the Tigers to claim a 69-66 victory.
The Bears eased out to a 35-29 lead going into the locker room at halftime. The Tigers never led in the second half, but a lay-up by Borchers, who went for 14 points and seven rebounds, cut the lead to 50-47 with 8:39 left, and Russ later scored on three consecutive possessions to make it 65-64 with 51 seconds remaining. The Bears hit four free throws down the stretch, however, to hold on for the win.
It was the Bears' fifth straight Lopata Classic title, and the win avenged last year's Wittenberg win in the championship game of the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Tip-Off Classic.
The Tigers won the rebounding battle, 43-28, including a 19-4 advantage on the offensive glass. Russ finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Bucheit chipped in with 15 points and five boards and Brywczynski added 10 points, three rebounds and three assists. Borchers and Bucheit made the all-tournament team.
Against Capital, it was just one of those nights. The Tigers shot better than 60 percent from the field and outrebounded the homestanding Crusaders by 19 in a surprisingly comfortable 75-46 victory.
The Tigers pulled out to a seven-point lead by halftime and then kicked it into overdrive in the final 20 minutes to run away with the huge win. The key was a 13-0 Tiger run to open the second half, a scoring outburst that opened a 20-point cushion. Russ finished with 19 points and six rebounds in the game and Borches added 16 points and nine boards. Junior guard Phil Steffes (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) turned in six points on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point range, three rebounds and four assists, and senior guard Kenny Molz (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) was solid off the bench with eight points and three assists.
For the game, Wittenberg shot a sizzling 61 percent from the field, including 7-of-15 from beyond the three-point line. The rebounding margin was a staggering 43-24.
Rounding things out, the Tigers took it to neighboring NAIA rival Urbana, 89-65, in a physical home opener on Saturday. After Urbana scored the first basket of the game, the Tigers scored the next 10 points. The lead stretched to 20 points as the Tigers scored the last five points of the half on a three-pointer by Borchers and a breakaway dunk by Russ with 25 seconds left.
In the second half, Urbana could draw no closer than 16. For the game, Wittenberg shot 53 percent, including a blistering 64 percent in the field half, compared to Urbana's 37 percent for the game and 25 percent for the opening 20 minutes.
Wittenberg, which opens the 2004-05 North Coast Athletic Conference schedule with a home date with Allegheny on Dec. 4, showed great offensive balance. Borchers led with 17 points, Steffes added a career-high 16 on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and four three-pointers, Russ and Bucheit finished with 15 tallies apiece and sophomore post Jack Hemenway (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) was outstanding with career-highs of 10 points and eight rebounds.