Roundup: Tigers Heading Into Heart of NCAC Play

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Tyler Howard

The Wittenberg men's basketball team has now reeled off six straight wins since its only loss of the season, and as the Tigers head into the heart of North Coast Athletic Conference play they appear to be making significant improvement.

Ranked second in the nation with a 12-1 overall record, Wittenberg has limited its last six opponents to 54 points or less while winning each game by at least 11 points. Along the way, the Tigers have beaten two Ohio Athletic Conference contenders (Ohio Northern and Otterbein), took first place in the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic in the HPER Center and moved out to a 3-1 record in the early going of the 2005-06 NCAC regular season title chase.

In the Zimmerman Classic, the Tigers overwhelmed St. Norbert, 60-36, in the opening round before dispatching NAIA scholarship program Marian (Ind.) by a 63-49 count in the championship game. Senior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia) was the Tournament MVP for a second straight year after he came up with 26 points and eight rebounds combined in the two games.

Borchers was joined on the all-tournament team by freshman wing Tyler Howard (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro), who reached double figures in points off the bench in both games, and senior post Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), who shook off a calf injury that kept out of the first game to score 14 points and grab seven rebounds in the finale. As usual, Russ made the big plays down the stretch, including an acrobatic defensive rebound and then a putback basket and ensuing free throw that essentially put the game out of reach in the final minutes.

In the last week, the Tigers have headed back into NCAC play and easily defeated Kenyon at home on Wednesday and Oberlin on the road on Saturday. All 16 players in uniform for each game saw at least two minutes of action.

For the season, Russ leads a tremendously balanced team effort with 14.4 points per game. He also stands second with 5.3 rebounds per outing, first in blocks with 16, second in field goal percentage at 57 percent and third in assists with 20. Borchers is second in points at 11.3 per outing and tops in rebounds with 6.6 per game. In addition, Borchers is shooting 93 percent from the foul line to rank first in the NCAC and in the top five nationally.

What has been most impressive in recent weeks, however, has been the progress made by a relatively young supporting cast around Russ and Borchers. Howard is one of three freshmen in the 10-man rotation employed by Head Coach Bill Brown, who is nearing 300 victories for his Wittenberg career. He is averaging 7.5 points per game and leads the Tigers with 18 three-pointers on 47 percent shooting from long range.

Along with the development of junior wing Billy Bowen (Hamilton Heights, Ind./Arcadia) and junior post Jack Hemenway (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville), who are averaging career-bests of 4.8 and 3.9 points per game respectively, Howard and the Tigers' second unit keeps opponents on their toes.