Junior guard Nate Axelrod sank a pair of free throws with :00.9 left to give Ohio Wesleyan the lead, and the Bishops went on to take a 72-70 North Coast Athletic Conference win over Wittenberg on Wednesday in Springfield.

The win clinches a share of the NCAC championship for Ohio Wesleyan, the Battling Bishops' third consecutive conference title.  Ohio Wesleyan can win the crown outright with a win over Allegheny on Saturday.

Wittenberg's Cody Phillippi had connected on the second of 2 free throws to tie the game at 70 with :06.1 remaining.

Axelrod got the ball in the backcourt, drove up the court and split 3 defenders, got a Tiger defender into the air and was fouled.  He sank both free throws with :00.9 to play for a 72-70 Bishop lead.

The Tigers got a look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but Landon Hormann's try from midcourt hit the backboard.

Lay-ins by senior post Ben Simpson, senior guard Jon Griggs, and Axelrod broke an early 5-5 tie and gave the Bishops an 11-5 lead, and Ohio Wesleyan opened up an 18-10 lead on a 3-pointer by junior guard Seth Clark with 12:26 left in the first half.

Wittenberg came back to tie the game at 20 as Hormann contributed a lay-in and a 3-pointer, and a later 7-0 run put the Tigers up by a 31-25 count with 4:16 to play in the period.

The Bishops took the lead with a 15-2 second-half run that included 3 consecutive hoops by freshman post Grant Gossard and a 3-pointer by senior post Erick Bryant, and another Gossard lay-in made it 55-49 with 11:23 remaining.

A Micah Miller 3-pointer and a pair of Phillippi buckets helped the Tigers retake the lead at 58-55, and Wittenberg led, 67-63, after a 3-pointer by Jaelin Williams with 2:12 remaining.

Axelrod answered with a 3-pointer on Ohio Wesleyan's ensuing possession, then stole the ball and scored with 1:29 to play.  After the Bishops recorded a stop, it was Simpson with a lay-in for a 70-67 advantage with :42 left.

Fouled while attempting a 3-pointer, Williams sank the first 2 free throws to bring Wittenberg within 70-69 but missed the third free throw.  Clark cleared the defensive rebound and was fouled, but missed the front end of the one-and-one, with Williams grabbing the rebound for Wittenberg, setting up Phillippi's game-tying free throw.

Simpson led the Bishops with 20 points.  Axelrod scored 16 points and dished out a team-high 7 assists.  Gossard scored 10 points, and Clark led the Bishops with 6 boards.

Connor Seipel led Wittenberg with 17 points.