On Wednesday, Jan. 31, the Tigers took on the Lords of Kenyon College. Kenyon’s record this season, going into the game, was 6-13 and the Tigers were 19-0, but when the game finished, the Lords were 6-14 and the Tigers continued their winning streak to 20-0. The Tigers are still ranked at number three in DIII athletics across the country, but are inching closer to Washington University and Whitman College.
The game started out rough for the Tigers when the Lords came out scoring the first points with a three from behind the line and then turned around with a jumper, putting the Lords ahead by five. But, Chad Roy, ’18, scored the first two points for the Tigers with a layup that was passed to him from Jordan Pumroy, ’20.
The Tigers had to fight to take the lead in the first half, finally nabbing it as Roy made two free-throws that put the Tigers ahead 18-17 with 9:40 left in the first half. That push caused the Lords to take a timeout and switch up their players on the court, hoping to regain their lead.
In the first half, there were four 3-point shots made: two by Pumroy, one by James Johnson, ’21, and one from Mitchell Balser, ’19.
After the half, the Tigers came out on fire, with a layup from Roy, another 3-pointer from Balser, a layup from Seipel and another 3-pointer from Balser. The Tigers were on fire. It took the Lords three minutes and 45 seconds to score.
The leading scorer for the night was Balser, with 21 points. Connor Seipel, ’20, had nine rebounds and Jacob Bertemes, ’20, walked away with the lead in assists with four in the second half.
On Saturday, Feb. 3, the Tigers went up against Yeomen of Oberlin College on the road. The game started and ended well with the Tigers and the Yeomen being well matched for the entirety of the game, however, Wittenberg extended its win streak to 21.
The Tigers took the bull by the horns, coming out with a 3-pointer from Bertemes with an assist from Seipel 30 seconds into the game. The Tigers and the Yeomen were well matched for a majority of the game, with the two teams spending most of the 40 minutes only two points apart. Each team took turns being ahead or behind, but in the end the Tigers won 77-56.
During the first half, the Tigers fought for their lead.
Bertemes was able to tie the game up with two free-throws, then Johnson turned around made a layup, putting the Tigers ahead by two. By the end of the half…
the Tigers were down by one, but Balser sank another 3-pointer putting the Tigers ahead. Seipel was fouled and brought to the line for two free-throws, the first worked out but the second did not. That was the last point scored of the half, sending the Tigers into the locker room ahead 33-30.
After the half, the Tigers were still hot from their lead. Balser put up a 3-point shot that found the bottom of the net with ease. Roy put up four points, followed by another 3-point shot from Rashaad Ali-Shakir, ’21. With shots taken left and right from Seipel and Bertemes, the Tigers were ahead and not releasing their lead. Balser made his third of 10 3-point attempts for the afternoon and put Wittenberg ahead 62-50.
There were 23 total 3-point shots taken by the Tigers, with only nine making their way through the hoop. The Tigers shot 39.1 percent from the 3-point line.
Top scorer for the afternoon was Bertemes, with 16 points, followed by Roy with 14, then Johnson and Balser tying with 12. Seipel led in rebounds with 10, as he also tied with Bertemes for assists, each player having three. The Tigers made 30 points in the paint, compared to the Yeomen’s 22, and had two fast break points.
The Tigers are now 21-0, but still currently sit in the third spot for the nation of the NCAA DII rankings.
The Tigers are back in action on Feb. 7, at home against Wabash College. They will be on the road again the following Saturday against Hiram College.
