Wittenberg sophomore Sam Collins started growing his hair a little more than a year ago, not exactly as a tribute to teammate Clayton Black — though it looks that way now.

The 6-foot-4 wing threw down a dunk with authority Wednesday as the Tigers beat Marietta 73-63 in their home opener at Pam Evans Smith Arena, and anyone who watched the team last year had visions of Black, the graduated senior who rattled the same rims for four years.

Collins and fellow sophomores Ben Syroka and Logan Markko decided to grow their hair together. They have Black’s support. He texted Collins and said he likes the look.

“We’ve got a pact going to see who’s going to cut it first,” Collins said.

The way Collins is playing, that won’t be anytime soon. He scored 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and had 7 rebounds as the Tigers improved to 4-0. Collins played in just six games last season. This season, he’s tied with Scott Masin as the team’s leading scorer (14 points per game).

“I’m just really excited,” Collins said. “Last year, we had seven seniors, and I kind of picked up from (Michael) Cooper and (Josh) McKee and waited behind them. Those guys challenged me every day in practice and made me a lot better. I’m happy to get a chance this year.”

Collins helped the Tigers avenge two defeats: the 87-63 loss at Marietta last November and the 63-62 loss at Marietta in the NCAA tournament two seasons ago.

This time, Wittenberg led the Pioneers (2-2) by as many as 11 points in the first half. Marietta ended the half on an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 36-33. Wittenberg seized control in the second half with a 13-4 run and led 57-42 with 10:46 left.

The Tigers shot 59 percent from the field and made 13-of-19 free throws. Masin had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Zack Leahy scored 12. Newell had 10 points, and Syroka scored 8.

“We were hitting a lot of good shots,” Newell said. “Scott is playing out of his mind right now. It always makes it easier for us guards when we feel we can kick it in there.”

The Tigers, who host rival Wooster at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, now own victories over the top two teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference. They beat preseason favorite Capital 66-54 Nov. 20.

Marietta stayed in the game early by hitting 6-of-17 3-pointers in the first half. In the second half, it made 1-of-10.

“The big difference the second half defensively was I got my head out of my backside and pulled the trigger to make a change on our ball screen defense,” Wittenberg coach Bill Brown said. “I’m embarrassed it took me so long to do it. They made a couple of 3s against the zone, too. The whole thought there was to protect Scott a little bit. They have some big strong guys, and they really post up hard.”