Last Wednesday, Wittenberg’s Men’s Basketball Team hosted Ohio Wesleyan University in a huge conference match-up. Ohio Wesleyan was coming off a big win over Wooster, putting them in first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) rankings. Wednesday’s meeting ended with a 49-47 decision over the Tigers. This drops the Tigers to an overall record of 7-13 and 5-8 in conference.
For the first half of the game, Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg battled it out, with multiple lead changes. It was not until sophomore Cody Phillippi went on his own eight-point run that the score was spread 21-13. The Tigers were not able to hang onto the lead, as the score entering the half had Ohio Wesleyan leading Wittenberg 25-24.
The Tigers came out strong after the half, scoring the first six points. Then the Bishops went on a 12-2 run in the second half, pushing the score to 49-39. The Tigers scored the next eight points, including a huge three-point-play from junior Alex Fultz. The Tigers had possession of the ball for the last 30 seconds of the game. Trying to run the clock down, they waited to move the ball inside and were forced to call a timeout with two seconds on the clock. Ohio Wesleyan held onto the lead after the Tigers’ timeout.
The Tigers’ scoring was led by Phillippi — who was the only player to post double digits on the night — with 14. Fultz followed Phillippi in scoring, contributing nine of his own. Wittenberg shot 29.2 percent from the field, and 20.8 percent from behind the arc. From the free throw line, the Tigers were able to accumulate a 71.4 percent average on the night.
The Tigers out-rebounded the Bishops 54-28. Sophomore Shane Edwards led the defense with nine rebounds, followed by sophomores Jaelin Williams and Chris Sloneker, who posted seven apiece. The Tigers suffered from 13 turnovers compared to the Bishops’ five.
On Saturday, Feb. 7, the Tigers also hosted Oberlin and pulled out a 71-53 victory. They will travel to DePauw on Wednesday, Feb. 11.
