The Wittenberg Tigers overcame a slow start to advance to the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament semifinals with a 77-63 victory over visiting Denison.
The Tigers have hosted an NCAC Tournament quarterfinal game every year since joining the league prior to the 1989-90 season, and they have now reached the semifinal round in all but two of those seasons. Wittenberg's third win over Denison in the 2010-11 season moved the Tigers to 18-7 overall after finishing second in the NCAC regular season with a mark of 13-3. Denison, the seventh seed in the conference tournament, finished the season with records of 8-18 overall and 5-11 in the NCAC.
Wittenberg led all but 11 seconds in the first half, but the Big Red kept it close throughout, trailing by just five points at half and hitting the first shot of the final 20 minutes to close to within two. The Tigers responded with an eight-point burst — four each from junior posts Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy) and Clayton Black (Lancaster, OHio/Lancaster) — and eventually stretched the lead to 17 on a three-pointer by senior Seth Hill (Bellefontaine, Ohio/Bellefontaine) with 9:53 remaining.
The Big Red, who have not won in Springfield since 1950 and have beaten Wittenberg just once since 1997, got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The Tigers shot 56 percent from the field, including a 7-of-16 clip from three-point range, and they handily won the rebounding battle, 45-24. The Big Red were limited to 37 percent shooting from the field, but Denison made three more from long distance and nine more from the free throw line.
Five Tigers reached double figures on offense, starting with senior Chris Sullivan (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) with 20 points, four rebounds and two steals. The nation's leader in three-point field goals made per game drilled 6-of-12 from long range.
Junior Jacob Weide (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) added 15 points and eight rebounds in 18 productive minutes off the bench, while a trio of players finished the game with 10 points apiece — Hill, Brandt and Black. Hill also contributed four assists, while Brandt chipped in with eight rebounds. Also of note was the performance of junior Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South), who scored just two points but finished with a career-high 13 boards.
The Tigers will take on Wabash on Friday in the NCAC Tournament semifinals at Wooster after splitting a pair of games during the 2010-11 season, with each team winning on their home floor. A year ago, Wittenberg beat the Little Giants 61-60 to advance to the tourney finals, also at Wooster.