With the win, the veteran Tigers can finally turn their full attention to Saturday's big game against arch-rival Wooster. The Tigers, ranked first in the nation, improved to 19-1 overall and 10-1 in the NCAC as they won for the 13th straight time, dating back to an 86-83 defeat at Wooster on Dec. 10. Wooster, ranked second nationally, also stands 19-1 overall, but the Scots have the upper hand in the NCAC regular season title chase with a perfect 11-0 record after disposing of Allegheny on Wednesday.
With the score tied at 44 in Earlham's home gym, the Tigers finally put their entire game together, ripping off six quick points to take a lead they would not relinquish. Over the final eight minutes of the game, Wittenberg outscored Earlham 17-5, primarily making use of a significant height advantage in the post and a depth advantage after the Quakers' best player, 6-7 senior guard Brandon Miller, fouled out just over one minute into the second half.
Senior post Daniel Russ came up big, finishing with a game-high 17 points to go along with eight rebounds for the Tigers. Junior wing Billy Bowen added seven points, including a key three-pointer late in the second half, and freshman wing Tyler Howard chipped in with seven points as well. Senior post Dane Borchers had an off-night offensively with five points, seven below his season average, but he made up for it with a game-best 11 rebounds.
The Tigers shot 55 percent from the field, including a 4-of-7 performance from three-point range, but those positives were balanced by a second straight puzzling shooting performance from the free throw line. After making just 4-of-14 from the charity stripe on Saturday at Denison, the Tigers, who were ranked among the best in the nation in free throw shooting just 10 days ago, cashed in on just 11-of-23 attempts from the free throw line at Earlham.
The Quakers, who lost to Wittenberg for the 12th straight time dating back to 2000, dropped to 9-11 overall and 6-5 in the NCAC. Earlham, which was outrebounded 21-4 in the first half and 39-20 in the game, shot just 36 percent from the field and became the third straight Wittenberg foe held below 50 points. Fourteen Wittenberg opponents have been held to 55 points or less by the top ranked defensive team in all of NCAA Division III.
Earlham was paced by Tristian Gregory with 14 points, including three treys, the last of which was part of a four-point play that tied the game at 44. Miller, the NCAC's second-leading scorer, finished with just four points and five rebounds in 18 minutes of action.