2005-06 News
Four years after arriving on Wittenberg University’s campus as something of a basketball “project,” Louisville, Ky.-native Daniel Russ, class of 2006, is once again viewed as a man with intriguing potential.
For Daniel Russ of Louisville, Ky., and Kenny Brady of Cincinnati, Ohio, both class of 2006, the ride hasn't ended.
The story of small college men’s basketball cannot be told without Wittenberg University. In recognition of that fact, the university’s national championship teams of 1961 and 1977 were among a large group of individual players and teams honored during the inaugural induction ceremony of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame & Museum on Saturday, May 20.
Not enough can be said for the 2005-06 Wittenberg men's basketball team. With the return of three starters, and eight letterwinners from one of the top 10 teams in the nation in 2004-05, including North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Player of the Year Dan Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), the Tigers were expected to enjoy another successful season in 2005-06.
Wittenberg fans were treated to another tremendous basketball season in 2005-06, one that led to a North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) regular season championship for the women and an NCAC Tournament crown and a run to the national title game in the NCAA Division III Tournament for the men. Predictably, regional and even national honors have followed for three individual student-athletes.
There was just one lead change in the entire NCAA Division III Tournament championship game. Unfortunately for the Wittenberg Tigers, it occurred with two seconds left when Virginia Wesleyan's Ton Ton Balenga drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Marlins a shocking 59-56 victory.
The Wittenberg Tigers have won with defense and post play throughout the 2005-06 season. Down eight points with 5:44 to go, the Tigers got back to basics to finish the game on a 13-1 run and capture a 64-60 NCAA Division III Tournament semifinal victory over Amherst College in Salem, Va.
For an NCAA Division III-record seventh time, the Wittenberg University men's basketball team heads to the NCAA Division III Tournament Final Four, where the Tigers will face Amherst College at 6 p.m. Friday at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va. A berth in the national championship game, scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, also in Salem, is at stake.
It wasn't a work of art, but in the end it was a thing of beauty for the Wittenberg Tigers. For the second straight night, the Tigers advanced in the NCAA Division III the hard way, fending off a stern challenge on their home floor.
With two of the best defensive teams in all of NCAA Division III locked up in a Round of 16 game, it was obvious from the outset that nothing would come easily. It didn't, but by game's end the Wittenberg Tigers had hit just enough big shots to pull off a 56-49 victory and advance to the national quarterfinals for the first time in a decade.
An outstanding 2005-06 winter sports season continues for the Wittenberg University Tigers as the men's basketball team prepares for the sectional round of the NCAA Division III Tournament and a member of the women's swimming and diving team heads to Minnesota for another NCAA Division III Championship meet.
After defeating Lake Erie College and Baldwin-Wallace College by a combined 54 points over the weekend, the Wittenberg University men's basketball team will again have a home court advantage in the sectional rounds of the NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg has been selected to host one of four sectional sites on March 10-11.
The Wittenberg Tigers put together one of their most complete performances of the season on Saturday with a 78-60 victory over visiting Baldwin-Wallace College in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. As a result, the Tigers are headed to the Round of 16 for the first time since 2001.
It had all the earmarks on paper before the game of a lopsided Wittenberg win, and it turned out to be just that. The Wittenberg Tigers jumped on visiting Lake Erie in the opening and never let the Storm up for air in a 76-40 victory in Wittenberg's HPER Center.
Wooster sophomore guard James Cooper has been named Player of the Year to highlight the 2006 All-North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball squad, announced today after voting by the conference's head coaches.
The Wittenberg men's basketball team captured the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a 71-69 victory over the College of Wooster on Saturday to earn a berth into the 2006 NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg, which will make an NCAA Division III record 24th appearance in the national competition, then was selected as a host site for one of 11 four-team opening round brackets