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Y! MyWeballegheny 65, wittenberg 63
Tigers' season slips away
Wittenberg falls in NCAC quarterfinals for first time ever
COMMENT: What happened to Witt?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — Gregg Hill slipped, and Wittenberg slid right out of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.
There will be no March Madness for Wittenberg — only February sadness.
Wittenberg's Gregg Hill reacts after tying up the game with a three point basket with less than a minute to play in the Tigers' NCAC tournament game against Allegheny Tuesday. Lor Lore te tat wis autate dolesenisl ut at aliquat, quat nosto od ming el do commy nullaore cortis dolestrud Staff photo by Bill LackeyDown by two with four seconds left, the junior caught an in-bounds pass just short of half court, skirted the sideline past several Allegheny defenders and prepared to shoot a 3-pointer only to lose his footing in front of the Wittenberg bench.
The ball sailed out of bounds as time expired. Hill lay still on the 3-point line as the Tigers contemplated a 65-63 defeat Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the NCAC quarterfinals at Pam Evans Smith Arena.
"I don't know if it was wet or what," Hill said, "but I lost traction when I went to stop."
Just like that, Wittenberg's season was over. By finishing 16-10, Wittenberg suffered its first 10-loss season since 1981-82 and its worst winning percentage (.615) since 1967-68 (13-13, .500).
Less than two weeks ago, Feb. 16 at Wooster, the Tigers were playing for first place in the NCAC. Now they have to deal with their first loss in a conference tournament quarterfinal since 1986 when they were in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
"When the dust settles, we've lost four of our last five and lost on our home court in the opening round of the tournament," Wittenberg coach Bill Brown said. "It's mystifying to me."
"It's very hard to explain," Hill said. "The effort was there. The passion was there. You could see the heart in everybody. We were just missing an important part of the game, and I don't know what it is."
The passion nearly let Wittenberg survive Allegheny (12-14). Down by eight with 3:08 to play, the Tigers rallied and tied the game on a Hill 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.
After a timeout, Allegheny gave the ball to sophomore guard Charlie Jaicks. He took the ball all the way down the court, past Wittenberg senior Brandon White and then banked in a shot over David Nowicki with four seconds left.
"We wanted to spread them out, be aggressive, create a play," Allegheny coach Rob Clune said. "(Jaicks) got a head and shoulders behind him, went to the basket, created a play and did a great job."
C
ontact this reporter at (937) 328-0351 or djablonski@coxohio.com.
Comments
By Wittenberg Fan
March 16, 2008 12:46 PM | Link to this
hey Dawgpound
Obviously you have never played college level b’ball. It takes a great amount of effort from the coaches and players. So you’re wrong—people do care that these talented athletes and coaches are willing to devote their time and energy to play at this level. Just because it’s not Div. I doesn’t mean these guys are doing what most college students cannot….devote time to a sport and maintain their college classes. WAKE UP!
By Wittenberg Fan
March 16, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this
hey Dawgpound
Obviously you have never played college level b’ball. It takes a great amount of effort from the coaches and players. So you’re wrong—people do care that these talented athletes and coaches are willing to devote their time and energy to play at this level. Just because it’s not Div. I doesn’t mean these guys are doing what most college students cannot….devote time to a sport and maintain their college classes. WAKE UP!
By Wittenberg Fan
February 28, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
Witt players did as well as they could with an ever changing line-up. You could not ask for more heart from the core group of players. Next year will bring great things for Witt basketball. Go Witt!
By Wittenberg Fan
February 28, 2008 5:41 PM | Link to this
This year the players did the best they could with an ever changing roster. You could not ask for more heart from the core group of players. Next year will be a big year for Witt basketball.
By Alumni
February 27, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this
Inexperience and just not being that good. The NCAC has became a weak conference and that lead us to believe that Witt had a good team since they did well inside the conference. When you look at what they did outside the conference you see they weren’t very good. A bad team can get beat by anybody at anytime
By Spectator
February 27, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this
looks like everyone wanted to be on spring break
By DAWGPOUND
February 27, 2008 8:32 AM | Link to this
No Leadership. But hey, it is only D-3 Basketball… no one really cares