Tigers Send Seniors Out On High Note With Win Over Kenyon

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - On Senior Recognition Night, the Wittenberg men's basketball team leaned on its veterans down the stretch of an 80-71 victory over visiting North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rival Kenyon.

The Tigers' five seniors accounted for 64 points in the win, which snapped a two-game skid and improved Wittenberg to 18-6 overall and 12-5 in the NCAC. Most importantly, the seniors did the job in the closing moments as Cole Bond (Canton, Ohio/St. Thomas Aquinas) drilled three clutch second-half three-pointers and Steven Newell (Dayton, Ohio/Northmont) sank six straight free throws over the final 50 seconds.

The late-game heroics from Bond and Newell came after fellow seniors Zack Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford) and Scott Masin (New Carlisle, Ohio/Bethel) had put the Tigers in position to secure the victory. Masin posted his 11th double-double of the 2013-14 season, pouring in 22 points and 14 rebounds to go along with five assists, and Leahy contributed 17 points and two assists.

The 11th point of the night was a big one for Leahy, who started his career at the University of Toledo. After scoring 143 points for the Rockets during the 2010-11 season, Leahy has added 863 points during his three years in the Red & White, joining Chris Sullivan as recent Wittenberg players to surpass 1,000 points in a Tiger uniform after starting his career elsewhere.

After taking a 42-30 lead at halftime, the Tigers struggled over the first nine minutes of the second half as Kenyon closed to within one point at the 11:12 mark. Wittenberg responded with five straight points while holding the Lords scoreless for nearly three minutes, and Kenyon never managed to get closer than two points the rest of the way.

The key for Wittenberg was free throw shooting, ironic for a team that averages 66 percent from the charity stripe to rank eighth in the NCAC. The Tigers knocked down 19-of-25 free throws in the second half, including nine of their last 12 in the final 1:10 of the game.

For the game, the Tigers hit 25-of-34 free throws to go along with 53.5 percent shooting from the field. Also key to the win was a 9-of-19 performance from three-point range.

Newell finished with 16 points, three assists and two steals, while Bond's trio of triples accounted for all nine of his points. The fifth senior in the starting line-up was Justin McDowell (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln), who played 16 minutes and contributed an outstanding defensive performance on Kenyon's guards.

Also of note was the play of junior Alex Fultz (Batavia, Ohio/Glen Este), who hit a pair of three-pointers in the first half en route to seven points in 13 solid minutes off the bench. Fultz had played limited minutes in recent weeks due to injury.