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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2010 > January > 15
Friday, January 15, 2010
On this date in area sports history …
Four years ago today, Jan. 15, 2005, the Wittenberg men’s basketball team beat Wooster 69-51. The two teams resume their rivalry on Saturday, Jan. 17, at Wooster. Complete story on the jump.
Published Jan. 16, 2005
Witt tops best in the nation
By DAVID JABLONSKI News-Sun Sports Writer
WOOSTER — After practice Friday, Wittenberg senior Danny Brywczynski had a message for his teammates. He wanted them to remember last season’s 100-71 drubbing by Wooster in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament final.
“He said when everyone goes to sleep he wants us dreaming about last year’s game,” junior Kenny Brady said
Saturday “how they beat us on our home court by 30, and that we don’t want anything like that happening again. We were going to have to come out ready to play, so we were thinking about it a little bit.”
If the Tigers had nightmares about that game Friday night, they had beautiful dreams Saturday night after returning the favor to the No. 1 Scots in the form of a 69-51 victory at Timken Gymnasium.
Wittenberg led 30-20 at halftime and never saw its lead fall under five in the second half.
Wooster lost for the first time this season, falling to 14-1 and 5-1 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Scots had to watch as the Tigers scored the last 10 points of the game over the last two minutes to turn the game into a blowout.
“We did chip away at times and cut that lead down,” said Wooster coach Steve Moore, who failed in his first attempt to earn career win No. 400, “but then every time we did get it cut down, they responded and answered with some big plays.”
In the final minutes, a chant of “overrated” rose from the group of Wittenberg fans sitting behind the Tigers’ bench, and don’t think the Scots and their fans didn’t hear it.
Wooster’s stay at No. 1 will last just a week. This is the second time in their history the Scots have been No. 1, and both times Wittenberg has quickly knocked them from the top spot. The first time it happened was in 2001 when the Tigers won 94-80 in Wooster.
Rankings and polls are often downplayed by coaches and players, but Wooster’s lofty perch gave the No. 20 Tigers even more moti- vation Saturday.
“Coming into their home court, playing the No. 1 team in the nation — their fans are pretty good — it fires you up,” Wittenberg junior Dane Borchers said. “That’s why you like to play these games. It’s a big game.”
And it’s a big win for Wittenberg, which won its eighth straight game to improve to 13-2 and 5-1 in the NCAC. The Tigers are now tied atop the conference with Wooster. Wabash was also 4-1 entering Saturday, and the Tigers have beaten Wabash and Wooster.
“To us, them being ranked No. 1 was probably second or third on the list,” Wittenberg coach Bill Brown said. “No. 1, it’s Wooster. No. 2, the league race. And maybe No. 3, them being No. 1.”
If you’re the Tigers, there’s a lot to like about the stat sheet from Saturday’s game.
Wittenberg made 20 of 22 free throws, outrebounded the Scots 37-26 and had 24 points off the bench to Wooster’s 12.
Daniel Russ led the Tigers with 16 points despite playing just 19 minutes because of foul trouble. Borchers had 14 points, 12 in the second half. Andy Bucheit and Kenny Molz each had 12 points.
More importantly, Wittenberg’s defense held Wooster to 28.9 percent shooting. Compare that to last year’s tournament final, when Wooster hit 12 of its first 16 shots and shot 61 percent for the game.
Wooster’s leading scorer Saturday, Matt Schlingman, had 11 points. South graduate James Cooper scored six points for the Scots
“We’ve been relying on our defense to win games all year,” Borchers said. “We know that’s an effort thing. As long as our effort was there, we knew our defense would be there. We weren’t worried about too much offensively. Just run our stuff and it’ll come through for us down the road.”
The Tigers face Wooster again Feb. 12 at the HPER Center, but their next game is Wednesday at Ohio Wesleyan at 7:30 p.m.
WITTENBERG (69) — Steffes 0-2 0-0 0, Brywczynski 1-2 0-0 3, Bucheit 3-11 4-4 12, Borchers 3-7 8-10 14, Russ 6-11 3-3 16, Molz 4-7 2-2 12, Bi. Bowen 0-1 0-0 0, Br. Bowen 0-0 0-0 0, Brady 3-8 2-2 9, Huelsman 1-1 1-1 3. Totals: 21-50 20-22 69.
WOOSTER (51) — Witucky 2-9 2-2 8, Van Horn 2-3 1-1 6, Port 3-13 2-2 9, Mealer 1-3 2-2 5, Schlingman 3-4 5-6 11, Cooper 1-6 3-6 6, Ridder 0-1 0-0 0, Fulk 0-2 0-0 0, Bradley 0-1 0-0 0, Vandervaart 1-3 4-4 6. Totals: 13-45 19-23 51.
Halftime: Wittenberg 30-20. 3-points shooting: Wittenberg 7-19 (Molz 2-4, Bucheit 2-6, Brywczynski 1-1, Russ 1-1, Brady 1-4, Steffes 0-2), Wooster 6-23 (Witucky 2-6, Mealer 1-1, Van Horn 1-2, Cooper 1-5, Port 1-7, Fulk 0-2). Rebounds: Wittenberg 37 (Borchers 6), Wooster 26 (Schlingman 7). Shooting percentages: Wittenberg .420, Wooster .289. Assists: Wittenberg 12 (Borchers 3), Wooster 9 (Port, Witucky 2). Turnovers: Wittenberg 11, Wooster 13. Records: Wittenberg 13-2, 5-1 NCAC; Wooster 14-1, 5-1. A - 3,221.
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