Rally Falls Just Short As Tigers Fall At Wooster, 78-77

Wooster, Ohio - Wittenberg and Wooster squared off in another classic men's basketball match-up, and for the sixth straight time it was the Scots who came up with the big plays down the stretch en route to a 78-77 victory.

The loss dropped Wittenberg to 11-5 overall and 5-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), one game behind league leader Denison. The Tigers beat the Big Red in overtime on January 10, and the two teams will square off again in February. Wooster evened its record at 8-8 and moved back into NCAC title contention at 4-3.

As is customary in games between the two men's basketball programs with the most wins in NCAA Division III history, things were tight throughout. There were a whopping 18 ties in the game and four lead changes.

Wooster put together an 8-0 run late in the first half and held a 38-30 lead at halftime. Over the final 20 minutes, the Tigers quickly made up that deficit before the Scots restored the lead to 60-52 with 6:09 remaining. Over the final 1:33 of the game, the Scots knocked down 12-of-15 free throws before Isaiah Johnson intentionally missed one last freebie inside of one second remaining, forcing the Tigers to attempt a full-court heave to win the game that fell short.

Trey Killens (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason) was the Tigers' leading scorer with 26 points, followed by Tyler Galluch (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) with 13 points and five rebounds before he fouled out late in the game, and Cameron Harrison (Eaton, Ohio/National Trail) with 11 points.