The win moved the Tigers, ranked sixth in the latest d3hoops.com national weekly poll, to 21-2 overall and 12-2 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Tigers put the wraps on the regular season with a road trip to always dangerous Wabash on Wednesday and then a home game next Saturday against improving Allegheny. Hiram dropped to 3-20 overall and 1-13 in the NCAC.
While the statistics don't point out the differences between the two teams quite as dramatically this time, the Tigers once again dominated the paint against the Terriers, who simply don't have the size or the depth to compete over the course of 40 minutes. After winning the rebounding battle by 40 in the last meeting, an 83-41 Wittenberg win at home nearly a month ago, the Tigers held a 35-26 advantage on the boards this time.
Still, the Tigers did the majority of their damage in the paint, led by senior post Daniel Russ with 16 points and six rebounds, senior post Dane Borchers with 13 points and seven boards and senior wing Kenny Brady with 12 points and four caroms. That opened the door for the rest of the Tigers' roster to get into the action, led by freshman guard Gregg Hill, who followed up a career-high 12 points against Ohio Wesleyan on Wednesday with 10 more in just 16 minutes against Hiram.
All 15 players in uniform for the Tigers saw at least two minutes of action and 14 of them scored in the game. Wittenberg shot nearly 60 percent and took expert care of the basketball, committing just eight turnovers. Chuck Williams led Hiram, which became the 19 Wittenberg foe this season to score less than 60 points, with 11 points off the bench. The Terriers were limited to 40 percent shooting from the field, including a 1-for-12 performance from three-point range.