On Wednesday, Feb. 13, the Tigers faced off with the Little Giants of Wabash College and came out with a win, 62-76. But, before tip-off, Witt took the time to honor their lone senior of the year, Mitchell Balser.
Balser has been an asset to the Tigers since he joined the team in 2017 after transferring from the College of Wooster. During his time as a Tiger, Balser scored his 1,000th point while facing off against the Yeomen of Oberlin College on Jan. 19 of this season. On Feb. 9, the Tigers beat the College of Wooster on their homecourt, 84-74, on their Senior Night after taking a loss to the Fighting Scots on Jan. 12, 73-65.
Starting the night off, Jake Bertemes, ’20, made a layup which put the Tigers on the board a whole 25 seconds before the Little Giants. But Wabash quickly stole the lead with a free-throw, jumper and a three-pointer.
Landon Martin, ’21, made a three-point shot that put the Tigers ahead, 9-6. Gaining momentum, the Tigers gradually built up their lead throughout the remaining 14 minutes of the half. Their largest lead was 23-14 after a layup from Balser.
With a minute left in the half, the Tigers were up 34-28. With Balser’s luck, he drew a foul and went to the free-throw line for three opportunities to score. He made all three shots, leaving thirty seconds left in the half. Wabash pushed through and made a layup and then fouled, sending Jordan Welch, ’21, to the line. Welch had two attempts and made both with a second left in the half. The Little Giants took a chance on a three-pointer and were beat by the buzzer.
Coming out of the half, Witt was up 39-30. Wasting no time, James Johnson, ’21, Connor Seipel, ’20 and Jordan Pumroy, ’20, all put points up with little pushback from the Little Giants. After making three substitutions, the Little Giants put up a jumper and closed the lead from 12 to 10 points.
With only a few minutes left in the game, Johnson put up three points after a layup and an and-one, followed by a jumper from Pumroy which put the Tigers ahead 76-57.
The Little Giants put up five more points before the game wound down, finalizing the score at 76-62.
Lead scorer of the night was Pumroy with 16 points. Both Pumroy and Seipel led in rebounds with eight a piece and finally Pumroy and Johnson led in assists with two each. Overall, the Tigers shot 43.3% from the floor, had 40 rebounds, six assists and scored 12 points off of rebounds. With 20 points in the paint and 16 points from the bench, the Tigers had a beautiful victory over the Little Giants.
Finishing out their regular season at Hiram College, the red and white were victorious with a 92-71 win. The Tigers have won 20 games, average 82.3 points per game and are on a seven-game winning streak.
On Tuesday, Feb. 19, the Tigers are set to face off against Ohio Wesleyan University’s Fighting Scots in the NCAC Quarterfinal.
