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On this date in area sports history …
Fifteen years ago today on this date, Feb. 22, 1994, the Wittenberg men’s basketball team set a school record with 66 points in the first half against Earlham. Complete story on the jump.
Published Feb. 24, 1994
TIGERS HAVE NO TROUBLE WITH QUAKERS IN OPENER
By Rob Oller, Sports Writer
The question was not if but how many.
Wittenberg figured it would score 100 points against Earlham Tuesday at the HPER Center. It just didn’t think it would happen so early.
The top-seeded Tigers breezed through their North Coast Athletic Conference tournament opener with a 124-63 thumping of the Quakers before 1,086 to remain unbeaten at 25-0.
WU advances to the semifinals, where it plays No. 4 seed Ohio Wesleyan at 9 p.m. Friday in Delaware. The Bishops slipped past No. 5 seed Denison, 67-63.
In other games, Wooster struggled past Case Western Reserve, 61-52, and Kenyon fought off Allegheny, 77-68, to set up a Kenyon-Wooster semifinal at 6:45 p.m. Friday. The championship is at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Tuesday’s mauling of Earlham was no surprise.
“We knew we’d be able to score points because of our size,” explained junior center Chris Wolfe, who poured in a career-high 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 from the foul line.
It was a shocker, though, how early the Tigers reached the century mark - with 8:57 remaining. Perhaps more of a stunner was that WU played a zone the entire second half. If it would have remained in its high-pressure, man-to-man defense, it might have scored 140 or more.
As it was, the Tigers set a handful of NCAC tournament records:
Most points in a game, breaking the mark of 109 recorded by Wittenberg against Case Western Reserve in 1991;
Most points in a half with 66. The previous high of 58 was tallied by Allegheny against CWRU in 1990.
Victory margin (61). Wooster held the mark of 51 against Oberlin in 1991;
Rebounds (64). Allegheny had 53 vs. Oberlin in 1988.
And, senior forward Matt Croci tied the three-point record with six. Allegheny’s Perry Junius had six against Wittenberg in 1990.
Of course, breaking records is the norm when the Tigers play Earlham. In the last meeting on Feb. 9, WU shook the Quakers by 75 points, 117-42, the biggest margin in school history.
And Witt nearly KO’ed its single-game scoring record of 127 points, set against Shenandoah in December.
With nine minutes remaining, that mark appeared sure of falling. After taking a 66-34 cushion to intermission, the Tigers ripped off a 22-4 run over the first 5 1/2 minutes of the second half. Just about every player got into the act. Croci, who finished with 20 points, buried two of his treys during the stretch and Aaron Perry and John Burns added one apiece.
The starters took a seat with 16:15 left, but the second wave still outscored Earlham’s best, 16-12, to the 9:00 mark for a 100-50 advantage.
“You’ve got to keep in mind that it was Earlham, but still it was good offensively for us, to get more confidence and play a little looser going into the weekend,” Wolfe said.
Wittenberg’s big men couldn’t have looked more confident. Wolfe and Luke Ragan (13 points), combined to hit 14 of 16 shots, with Ragan draining all five of his attempts.
“Nobody guarded them,” WU Coach Bill Brown said simply.
Brown was pleased to see the Tigers play unselfishly when there were so many opportunities to be selfish against an Earlham squad that played defense about every fourth minute.
Croci, who broke from his shooting slump by going 7 of 12, including 6 of 11 from three-point range, admitted he hurried a few flings the second half because he knew he would soon be done for the day, but he also had four assists and no turnovers. Perry and backup point guard Brian Whalen dished out five assists without a miscue.
The Tigers only committed nine turnovers to Earlham’s 17 and outrebounded the Quakers, 64-32. Aaron Smith led the way with 10 rebounds to go with his 15 points. Kevin Spriggs added 11 points before fouling out after just 10 minutes on the floor.
Spriggs’ exit wasn’t as humbling, however, as Anthony Robinson failing to score; one of only two Tigers, the other being freshman reserve Chad Metzger, to be blanked of the 16 who saw action.
Robinson admitted he took quite a teasing from his teammates about the goose egg, but he didn’t go down without a comeback.
“My job is to distribute the ball,” he said with a sly smile.
The Tigers also shot well, hitting 57 percent of their shots while holding Earlham to 32 percent.
The bright spot for the Quakers was freshman guard Matt Hall, who led all scorers with 25 points on 9 of 11 from the field. He missed the earlier 75-point rout while recovering from mononucleosis. South product Kawambee Gaines chipped in 11 for Earlham.
“Everything goes their way,” Hall said of the Tigers. “They’re good inside and they’re a threat outside.”
Coach Tony Gary agreed.
“It’s like me trying to play Michael Jordan,” he said. “No matter what I do, he’s going to get 100 against me.”
And sometimes a lot more.
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