The first demon was the combination of Wooster's Timken Gymnasium and the NCAC Tournament semifinals - Wittenberg lost the last two times it faced such a scenario (2000 vs. Wabash and 2002 vs. Allegheny). The second demon was overtime - Wittenberg had lost twice in extra sessions during the 2004-05 season, once at Denison on Dec. 11 and once at home to Wooster on Feb. 12. In fact, Wittenberg hadn't won an overtime game in two years - since, ironically, a 95-86 decision on the Little Giants' home floor in February 2003.
Veteran teams hungry for championships find a way to struggle through such adverse circumstances. The Wittenberg Tigers, with four juniors and four seniors as part of a 10-man rotation, are just that, and now they can add battle-tested to their resume after rallying from 10 points down in the final 11 minutes to force overtime and then ease past Wabash, the No. 3 seed, in overtime.
On a statistics sheet that showed two teams battling evenly throughout, the key statistic was a stunning discrepancy in free throws. Wabash did not attempt a single free throw in the game, while Wittenberg took advantage of 22 attempts by making 21, good for a percentage of 95.5. None were bigger than two foul shots by junior post Dane Borchers with just 34 seconds remaining and the Tigers down two points.
Those two free throws tied the score at 50, capping a 17-7 run in the final 11 minutes that forced the extra session. With momentum on their side, the Tigers outscored Wabash 11-3 in overtime, the key being five straight points to open the final five minutes on two free throws by junior post Daniel Russ and a clutch three-pointer by senior wing Andy Bucheit.
The loss was Wabash's third straight this season against Wittenberg and the Little Giants' eighth straight since capturing a 77-65 victory on their home floor in 2002. Wabash concluded its season with a 14-13 overall record after finishing 10-6 and third in the NCAC regular season title chase.
Wittenberg, which improved to 24-3 overall after taking second place in the NCAC regular season with a 14-2 mark, will make its 11th appearance in the NCAC Tournament championship game and fourth in the last five years. The Tigers have four NCAC Tournament titles to their credit, including three under the direction of current Head Coach Bill Brown, with the last coming in 2002.
Wittenberg got huge games from the players they needed to, especially at crunch time. Borchers scored the Tigers' final six points in regulation - four on free throws - and finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Across the lane, Russ added 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four blocked shots to the winning effort. Bucheit finished with 12 points, including a clutch trey on the second possession of overtime that gave the Tigers an insurmountable five-point advantage, and junior wing Kenny Brady added 10 points, six of them on free throws, in 19 minutes off the bench.
Wabash, which limited the Tigers to 37 percent shooting from the field and stayed right with the No. 2 ranked rebounding team in the nation (by average margin) by grabbing 30 of 62 rebounds in the game, got 13 points from Adonis Joseph and 12 points and five rebounds from Kyle Coffey. Another key stat for the Little Giants was turnovers as Wabash committed 15 ballhandling miscues, compared to nine for Wittenberg, including a key steal by Russ that led to Borchers' two free throws that tied the game.