ADA, Ohio — For a third straight season, the Wittenberg men's basketball team took a key non-conference decision from Ohio Northern, this year improving to 5-2 overall by a final score of 75-66.
The Polar Bears fell to 6-3 despite entering the game with a surge of momentum from a pair of big wins in Ohio Athletic Conference competition. Those included an 82-71 victory over OAC second-place John Carroll and most recently a dramatic 59-57 upset of d3hoops.com No. 20 Marietta on Saturday.
The Tigers' winning streak over Ohio Northern, now at three games, matches the Polar Bears' string of victories over Wittenberg from 2006 to 2008. Wittenberg now leads the all-time series 57-22.
Leading the Tigers was senior Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South), who connected on a career-high four three-point field goals on his way to a season-high 17 points. He also split the team lead for rebounds at six with senior Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy), who was second in scoring with 12 points.
Senior Josh McKee (New Carlisle, Ohio/Tecumseh) and sophomore Zach Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford) both chipped in 11 points. McKee and Brandt both went 6-for-6 from the free throw line, where the Tigers nailed the victory down with a 21-of-25 team performance, including 19-of-22 in the second half.
From the field, the Tigers shot 50 percent with 24 makes on 48 attempts against 23-of-60 (38.3 percent) for the Polar Bears. Sophomore Steven Newell (Englewood, Ohio/Northmont) finished the game with five assists, a team high on the season.
Wittenberg led by as many as 12 points in the first half and 14 in the second, but Ohio Northern chopped the margin down to five late in the game. With just 1:28 left on the clock the Polar Bears were forced to foul, each time sending McKee to the line. He converted all six of his free throw attempts in the last 36 seconds of the contest to hold off the rally.
McKee is now 17-of-19 (.895) at the free throw line in 2011-12, representing a marked improvement over his 2010-11 mark of 10-of-20.
Wittenberg returns to Springfield to host Otterbein University on Thursday, Dec. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Pam Evans Smith Arena. The Tiger Sports Network will be there with live statistics, audio and video.