Roundup: Tigers Aim To Bounce Back Against OAC Powerhouses
The Wittenberg men’s basketball team has had more than a week to absorb an 86-83 defeat at arch-rival Wooster on Dec. 10, but the Tigers won’t exactly be working back into the schedule slowly this week. Wittenberg welcomes perennial Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouses Ohio Northern and Otterbein to the HPER Center on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
Dane Borchers
The Wittenberg men's basketball team has had more than a week to absorb an 86-83 defeat at arch-rival Wooster on Dec. 10, but the Tigers won't exactly be working back into the schedule slowly this week. Wittenberg welcomes perennial Ohio Athletic Conference powerhouses Ohio Northern and Otterbein to the HPER Center on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
The Tigers remain the third-ranked team in NCAA Division III currently, despite the loss at second-ranked Wooster on a late three-pointer. With a 6-1 overall record and a mark of 1-1 in the NCAC, the games against Ohio Northern and Otterbein are key in-region contests that could have a great impact on the Tigers' postseason hopes.
Just four days after defeating fifth-ranked NAIA Division II scholarship program Cedarville, 65-59, in the Yellow Jackets' home gym, the Tigers played a scintillating game with Wooster. It included 17 lead changes, including 15 in the second half alone, and it eventually came down to a 25-foot three-pointer that hit nothing but net.
The Tigers were led by 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year Daniel Russ (Louisville, Ky./Trinity), who dropped in a game-high 33 points, the second-best scoring output of his collegiate career. The only time he has topped that point total was in a triple-overtime classic against Wooster last season in the HPER Center, when he hit for 37 points.
Russ added seven rebounds, four behind the team leader in that category, fellow senior post Dane Borchers (Russia, Ohio/Russia). Borchers had his best game of the 2005-06 season with his first double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman wing Tyler Howard (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) chipped in with 10 points off the bench, including a pair of key first-half three-pointers.
Russ, who became the 28th player in school history to surpass the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season, leads the Tigers with 14.3 points per game so far this season, followed by senior wing Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading) with 11.4 per outing. Brady netted nine in the loss at Wooster after topping the team offensively with 15 points, including three treys in the opening five minutes of the game, against Cedarville. Borchers, the team's leading scorer and rebounder a year ago, checks in with 9.1 points and a team-best 6.6 boards per contest in 2005-06.
After this week's games, the Tigers have a week off before hosting the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic on Dec. 29-30. Wittenberg opens with St. Norbert in the first round, while the other Day 1 game includes Marian (Ind.) and Olivet.