Witt Hoops Collects Postseason Accolades
The Wittenberg Men's Basketball Team finished the 2020 campaign with an overall record of 28-2 and a 17-1 record in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Tigers finished the season with a Sweet 16 appearance, North Coast Athletic Conference regular-season champions, and NCAC tournament runners-up.
The Tigers were led by three All-NCAC honorees. All-NCAC first-team included Connor Seipel and James Johnson. The Tigers own Jake Bertemes earned All-NCAC second team and Defensive Player of the Year. Head Coach Matt Croci also took home NCAC Coach of the Year, his second in his time since patroling the Wittenberg sidelines. Seipel and Johnson were also named members of the NCAC All-Tournament team.
Seipel, a senior forward, averaged 16 points per game while shooting 69 percent from the field. He averaged 10.6 rebounds per game while starting all 30 games for the Tigers. Seipel, led the North Coast Athletic Conference in rebounds, field goal percentage, and was top five in points per game. This was not the first time Seipel found himself on the All-NCAC team. In 2019, Seipel was also named to the All-NCAC first team. For the second consecutive year, Seipel has been named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Great Lakes Region All-District team, along with following up his D3hoops.com First Team All-Great Lakes season from 2018-19 with a second-team award. This is the 42nd time in program history a Tiger has earned NABC honors, and the 13th time collecting the D3hoops.com All-Region award. Wittenberg has placed a Tiger on the D3hoops.com All-Great Lakes Region team each of the past four seasons, dating back to the 2016-17 season. Seipel is the 11th Tiger to collect multiple NABC All-Great Lakes Region awards, joining the likes of fellow Wittenberg greats, including, Scott Masin, Clayton Black, Daniel Russ, Matt Croci, Brad Baldridge, Steve Iannarino, Tim Casey, Tyrone Curtis, Brian Agler and Eddie Ford.
Johnson, a junior forward, averaged 14.8 points per game on 47.2 shooting from the field and 42.8 percent from beyond the arc, top three in the NCAC. Johnson also averaged 6.7 rebounds per game. This was Johnson's first All-NCAC honor.
Jake Bertemes, a senior forward, averaged 13.6 points per game while averaging 48.7 percent from the field. Bertemes was tied for first in the NCAC in steals with 1.6 per game. He is the fourth player in Wittenberg history to earn this award, all four have come under Coach Croci. Bertemes was also named All-NCAC honorable mention in 2018. Bertemes stands out on the floor and in the classroom, collecting Co-SIDA Academic All-District honors as well.