Tiger Basketball Standouts Selected For All-Star Classic

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University basketball standouts Clayton Black, class of 2012 from Lancaster, Ohio, and Sarah Watson, class of 2012 from Hudson, Ohio, have been selected to participate in the fourth annual Jump25.com/Ohio College All-Star Classic on Saturday, April 14, at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio.

Watson will play in the Women's College All-Star Game at 1:30 p.m., while Black will play in the Men's College All-Star Game at 5 p.m., both in Ohio Dominican's Alumni Hall Gymnasium. The day's schedule also includes a Girls' High School All-Star Game at noon and a Boys' High School All-Star Game at 3 p.m. The college games include student-athletes from around the state of Ohio, while the high school games are limited to top seniors from Central Ohio.

In addition, there will be a Jump25.com Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony. Fourteen individuals who either played or coached at Ohio high schools and colleges will be honored, including former Tiger men's basketball assistant Damon Goodwin, whose son Grant is currently the starting third baseman on Wittenberg's baseball team.

Black earned All-Great Lakes Region honoree two straight years from d3hoops.com and the National Association of Basketball Coaches, in addition to back-to-back first-team North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) awards in 2011 and 2012. Black topped the Tigers for a second year in a row in scoring (14.0 points per game), and he was the team leader in rebounds with 6.7 per contest after ranking second on the squad in 2010-11. Black also ranked among the team leaders with a .530 shooting percentage from the field and a .733 free throw percentage in the 2011-12 season, and he paced the Tigers by a wide margin in blocked shots for a second straight year with 36.

Black concluded his career with 1,172 points, good for 18th in program history. His 38-point performance in a 71-63 victory over Kenyon on Jan. 11 was the best for a Wittenberg player since Rod Emmons in 2003 and tied for the ninth-highest in program history. He also finished with 550 career rebounds.

The Tiger men's basketball team won its 11th NCAC regular season title in 23 years in the league with a 14-2 record in 2011-12. After a loss to Denison in the NCAC Tournament semifinals, the Tigers made the most of an at-large berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament, advancing to the national quarterfinals before losing to Illinois Wesleyan. Wittenberg finished the season with a 24-7 overall record.

Watson earned her second straight second-team All-NCAC designation in 2011-12 after leading the Tigers with 13.1 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She also led the team in blocked shots, while ranking second in both steals and assists as Wittenberg's women's basketball team finished 14-12 overall and 9-7 in the NCAC, good for fifth place.

Watson scored 1,069 points in her collegiate career, good for eighth place in program history. She also snared 565 rebounds, which puts her 10th in program history.

Written By: Ryan Maurer