Men’s Basketball Sweeps Season Series With Win Against Wittenberg University; Terriers Move Into Sole Possession of First Place in NCAC Standings

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO — The Hiram College men’s basketball team swept the two-game season series against Wittenberg University with a 79-75 victory this afternoon (Saturday, Jan. 31) in a North Coast Athletic Confernece game at Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield. [Game Stats]

With the win, the Terrier win streak grows to a season-best five games and are now 14-5 overall and 9-1 in the NCAC. Hiram has also won eight of its last nine games. In addition, the win against Wittenberg puts the Terriers in sole possession of first place in the conference standings thanks to an Ohio Wesleyan University upset of The College of Wooster earlier in the afternoon. The Tigers are now 9-9 overall and 6-4 NCAC.

Both teams exchanged leads in the early minutes of the first half. Hiram regained the lead at the 15:05 mark thanks to a jumper by senior forward Ian Pfouts (Uniontown/Green) giving the Terriers an 11-10 advantage and never trailed in the game again. Hiram extended its lead to as many as nine points, 31-22, on a triple by Pfouts as part of small 5-0 scoring run with 6:12 to go in the period. Wittenberg rallied to tie the game at 33-33 with 3:42 left before halftime, but the Terriers answered with six straight points capped by a pair of free-throws by freshman guard Andrew Wiegand (Amherst/Firelands) making the score 39-33. The Tigers again rallied with four consecutive points of their own to cut the deficit to 39-37 at the intermission.

Wittenberg tied the game at 39-39 by scoring the first points of the second half and stayed within striking distance throughout the first half of the final period, but could not take over the lead. Hiram began to pull away in the final 10 minutes recording its largest lead of the game of 12 points, 70-58, at the 5:42 mark with another triple by Pfouts. Wittenberg would not go quietly as the Tigers narrowed the gap to a single point on two occassions, including a 76-75 deficit with 18 seconds to go. Hiram connected on three-of-four free-throws in the final seconds to secure a 79-75 win and sweep both regular-season matchups between the two schools.

Both teams shot well from the floor with Wittenberg converting 44.3 percent (27-of-61) of its attempts to Hiram’s 46.4 percent (26-of-56) shooting. Both teams also made 10 three-pointers in the game, but the Terriers won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding the Tigers, 41-30.

Wittenberg was led in scoring by Kevin Murray with 15 points on five-of-14 shooting (35.7 percent). Josh McKee was second with 12 points and grabbed a team-tying high seven rebounds. David Nowicki and Mark Snyder rounded out the Tiger high-scorers with 10 points each.

Hiram was led by Pfouts with a game-high 19 points on seven-of-11 shooting (63.6 percent), including three-of-four (75.0 percent) from behind the arc. Wiegand was second with a season-tying high 17 points. Sophomore guard Chris Roberts (Cleveland/Kennedy) rounded out the Hiram point leaders with 13 points to go along with seven boards. Sophomore forward Babajide Eniola (Washington, D.C./Seed Charter) tallied a game-high nine rebounds and scored nine points.

Hiram will look to put more distance between itself and the rest of the NCAC when the Terriers host Wooster on Wednesday, Feb. 4 in a key conference matchup at Price Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Hiram College Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (330) 569-5495, by FAX at (330) 569-5392 or by email at hoedtjm@hiram.edu.