Tigers Open Holiday Tourney With Big Win Over MSJ

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers picked up right where they left off before the Christmas holiday, scoring the game's first 13 points and coasting from there to an 84-61 victory on the opening day of the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic.

The win was Wittenberg's third in a row as the Tigers improved to 8-3 on the 2014-15 season. Wittenberg and Hanover will meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in a game that will determine the champion of the competition.

Mount St. Joseph, which fell to 3-6, will take on the City College of New York, which lost to Hanover earlier in the day, at noon Tuesday.

Senior Enri Small (Columbus, Ohio/Columbus School for Girls) jumpstarted the Wittenberg offense with a three-pointer just 30 seconds into the game, and she went on to score nine of the Tigers' first 13 points before Mount St. Joseph finally broke into the scoring column. The Lions chipped away the rest of the first half, pulling to within five points in the final minute before sophomore Riley McDonald (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) beat the buzzer with a three-pointer to give Wittenberg a 41-33 cushion at the intermission.

In the second half, the Tigers shot 50 percent from the field to pulll away. Senior Katelyn Haralamos (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) took her turn leading the offense, pouring in a perfect 3-for-3 on three-pointers en route to 11 points over the final 20 minutes.

Haralamos led all scorers in the game with 22 points, in addition to seven rebounds. Small added 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and five steals, while senior Darbie Zirkle (St. Paris, Ohio/Graham) chipped in with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Senior Heather Schroeder (Aurora, Ohio/Aurora) rounded out the Tigers in double figures with 12 points and six rebounds.

Wittenberg finished the game shooting 47.9 percent, compared to 39.2 percent for the Lions. Both teams struggled from the free throw line, with Mount St. Joseph making just half of 30 attempts and Wittenberg managing 6-of-13. The Tigers held a commanding 13-rebound advantage and also forced Mount St. Joseph into six more turnovers in the game.

Prior to the game, MSJ's Lauren Hill, who has made headlines with both her cancer diagnosis and her personal mission to raise money for research, offered some brief but inspiring remarks about her condition and her goal of raising money to beat cancer in the future. Wittenberg's senior student-athletes presented Hill with a check to be donated to The Cure Starts Now in her honor. The money was raised by team members who participated in the #LayUp4Lauren Challenge in November.

Written By: Ryan Maurer