Quick Starts Gives No. 11 Wittenberg 74-52 Win Over Men's Basketball

Quick Starts Gives No. 11 Wittenberg 74-52 Win Over Men's Basketball

PHOTOS

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Wittenberg University, ranked No. 11 in the most recent D3Hoops.com Top 25 Poll, scored 21 of the game's first 25 points en route to a 74-52 over the Wilmington College men's basketball team in the Kiwanis/Wittenberg Holiday Classic on Saturday evening.

DaeShawn Jackson and Kevin Lewis both made baskets early, but the Tigers scored on 8-of-10 possessions after the 4-4 tie forcing Wilmington Head Men's Basketball Coach K.C. Hunt to call his second timeout of the game at the 13:36 mark down 17 points. The Quakers responded by scoring on six consecutive possessions including five points form Jackson and four from Andrew Russell. A Jeffery Mansfield jumper at the 10:15 mark cut the Tiger lead to 24-17.

Wittenberg would double that advantage to 16 points (37-21) with 6:18 to play in the half, but a 12-6 run for Wilmington gave the visitors a dozen-point deficit (43-31) at halftime.

The Quakers were held to 21 points in the second half and couldn't get closer than the halftime deficit.

Wittenberg shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field compared to 28.4 percent (21-of-74) for Wilmington. The Quakers made just 3-of-27 (11.1 percent) from beyond the three-point arc while the Tigers finished 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) from distance. The hosts won the rebounding battle 49-35 while the visitors forced 20 turnovers behind a 10-steal performance.

Individually, Jackson was the lone Quaker to finish in double figures in scoring with 17 points while Lewis tallied nine points and seven rebounds. Both were named to the All-Classic Team.

Jake Bertemes, the Classic's Most Valuable Player, led Wittenberg with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field. Connor Seipel added 14 points and 16 rebounds.

Wilmington concludes non-conference play with a 4-2 record and resumes Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play against John Carroll University on Jan. 5.