Tigers Win NCAC Matchup Against Kenyon 78-70

Wittenberg travelled to Kenyon Wednesday night, and returned victorious behind Cody Phillippi's 17 second-half points.

For the second straight game, Phillippi came up big for Wittenberg in crunch time. File Photo|Nick Falzerano
For the second straight game, Phillippi came up big for Wittenberg in crunch time. File Photo|Nick Falzerano
January 20, 2016
Box Score

GAMBIER, Ohio—The Tigers travelled to Gambier to take on Kenyon College Wednesday night. Despite the cold conditions outside, Wittenberg was hot from the floor in the first-half, jumping out to a double-digit lead early. The Tigers utilized a sufficient second-half shooting to fend off a Kenyon comeback, pulling out the victory 78-70. The win puts Wittenberg at 11-5 overall and 6-3 in NCAC play.

GAME BREAKDOWN

  • The Tigers came out of the gates hot Wednesday night, going on a 20-9 run to start the game.
  • Kenyon came clawing back after ending the Tiger run, cutting the score down to 37-35 in the last ten minutes of the first-half before heading into the locker-room.
  • Out of the break, Wittenberg pushed their lead to 51-40 at the 15:31 mark thanks to a Cody Phillippi (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) three-pointer.
  • With only seven minutes remaining in regulation, and the Tigers up 62-52, Kenyon started a run of their own to cut the Wittenberg lead to three, 63-60.
  • Jaelin Williams (Springfield, Ohio/Shawnee) managed to give the Tigers some breathing room with just over two-minutes remaining in the game after his drive to the hoop resulted in an easy layup, pushing the lead to 69-66.
  • As time continued to tick away, Phillippi worked his way through the teeth of Kenyon's defense to find a wide-open three-pointer in the corner splash through the bottom of the net, putting the Tigers up 74-68.
  • For the second straight game, Phillippi came up big for Wittenberg, cashing in at the free-throw line in crunch time, giving the Tigers the 78-70 lead where it would stay come the final buzzer.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Wittenberg shot 56% from the floor Wednesday night, outshooting Kenyon who finished 48% from the floor.
  • For the second straight game the Tigers cashed in from the charity stripe, finishing 14-16 as a team.
  • Wednesday night's NCAC matchup featured two ties and two lead changes.

KEY STATS

  • Phillippi was held scoreless in the first-half, but rose to the occasion in the second-half, netting 17 points.
  • The Tigers were able to dominate the paint, outscoring Kenyon 42-18 down low.
  • Helping the Wittenberg offense tonight was good defense, as the Tigers garnished 21 points off of Kenyon turnovers.

FROM THE BENCH

  • "Once again, in this league you have to gut-out wins and obviously in the last three-minutes of the game Cody Phillippi put us on his back," said Heach Coach Brown.

UP NEXT

  • Wittenberg takes their three-game winning streak to Allegheny this Saturday, tip-off set for 1p.m.

 

Written By: Kuris Duggan