Back-And-Forth Battle Goes To Wilmington, 78-73

Springfield, Ohio - Fresh off a strong start to the 2023-24 season that included a pair of wins in Sewanee's Lon Varnell Classic, the Wittenberg Tigers started slowly on their home floor against Wilmington. After rallying to take a six-point lead by halftime, however, the Tigers couldn't keep the momentum through the entire 40 minutes as Wilmington made the plays down the stretch to secure a 78-73 win.

Both teams are now 2-1 on the young season. Wittenberg now turns its attention to a big weekend as host of the Great Lakes Invitational on Friday, November 17, and Saturday, November 18. The Tigers will take on Illinois Wesleyan and Middlebury, two perennial powerhouse programs.

Despite a scoring drought that put Wittenberg in an 11-point hole over the opening eight minutes, the game featured 10 ties and 10 lead changes. The second half was particularly tight, with Wilmington getting the best of things in the final two minutes. The Quakers' Ben Golan hit a three-pointer with 1:18 remaining on the clock to break a 70-70 tie, and Wilmington survived some shaky ball-handling from that point to secure the win.

Golan led both teams with 28 points, thanks to a tremendous shooting performance (12-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-4 from three-point range). Wittenberg countered with 20 points apiece from senior Daniel Asher (Indianapolis, Indiana/Roncalli), who did most of his damage at the free throw line (10-of-12), and junior Trey Killens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason). Senior Jeff Queen (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) added 13 points, four rebounds, and four steals, and junior Eddie Brown (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) contributed 12 points on 4-of-4 shooting from long distance to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.

As a team, Wittenberg shot 46 percent from the field, including 8-of-18 from three-point range. However, Wilmington's offense produced 57 shooting from the field.