SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - After a slow start, the Wittenberg Tigers pulled away from the visiting Denison Big Red and into the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament semifinals for the 23rd time in 25 years as a league member.

The Tigers won the rubber match of the season series with Denison in the 2013-14 season. Each team had won on the other's home floor during the regular season, but after trailing by as many as five points on two occasions in the first half, Wittenberg clamped down on defense to secure a 64-49 win, its 20th of the season against six losses.

Wittenberg, the No. 3 seed in the NCAC Tournament, will take on second-seeded DePauw in the semifinals on Friday night at Wooster. The top-seeded Scots will face fourth-seeded Ohio Wesleyan in the other semifinal match-up, with the winners advancing to the tourney title game on Saturday, also at Wooster.

Denison held the upper hand in the early going as Wittenberg committed eight turnovers in the first 12 minutes of the game. The Tigers closed the first half on a 15-5 run over the final 7:45 before intermission and then scored the first eight points of the second half to take control. Denison could get no closer than nine points over the final 18 minutes.

Senior Zack Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford) scored 17 points and senior Scott Masin (New Carlisle, Ohio/Bethel) added 16 and a game-high nine rebounds to lead the Tigers. The story, however, was 22 points and great defensive energy from the Tigers' reserves.

Sophomore Alex Fultz (Batavia, Ohio/Glen Este) continued his late-season surge, contributing 10 points in 14 quality minutes off the bench. He knocked down four of his five shots from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Also of note was the play of freshman Shane Edwards (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) with four points, six rebounds and three assists, freshman Cody Phillippi (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia) with five points and five rebounds, and senior Justin McDowell (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln) with three points and two steals.