Matt Croci picks up first win as Wittenberg Tigers coach

Men’s basketball team 1-1 at Gettysburg tournament


TUESDAY’S GAME

Wittenberg vs. Otterbein at Ohio Wesleyan, 6 p.m.

Matt Croci took the court for his first game as Wittenberg Tigers men’s basketball coach Friday with few jitters. He has been a head coach before after all. He led the Kenyon Lords for seven seasons.

However, from 1993 to this past March, the Tigers were led by one man: Bill Brown. His tenure lasted so long it overlapped Croci’s playing career. He was a senior in Brown’s first year.

All of that wasn’t on Croci’s mind. He was concerned only with Alvernia University, Wittenberg’s first opponent at the Gettysburg College (Pa.) Tip Off Tournament.

“I knew Alvernia was a pretty good team, and we were going to have to play well,” Croci said Monday. “I thought our guys had a really good preseason. I was hoping they would see some success and build some confidence.”

The Tigers lost their opener 67-66 on a 3-pointer by Alvernia’s Mike Miller with five seconds to play. The next day, Wittenberg routed host Gettysburg 74-51 to earn Croci his first victory.

“We had to play some different lineups Friday that we hadn’t practiced because of foul trouble,” Croci said. “I thought we played through that really well. Having a really tough emotionally-draining loss, leaving the gym at 10:15 p.m. on Friday and then playing at 2 on Saturday and then turning around and win that game by (23), I was just proud of them. I thought it was good resiliency, good togetherness, pride, all that. That’s the big takeaway from the weekend.”

Alvernia, of Reading, Pa., finished 15-11 last season. The Crusaders are consistently one of the top teams in the Commonwealth Conference.

Alvernia shot 44 percent from 3-point range (11 of 25). Wittenberg shot 34.8 (8 of 23). The Tigers trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half but rallied with with a 36-12 run and led 64-58 with 2:28 to play.

“It was tough,” Croci said. “We came back to take the lead. Just couldn’t close it out.”

Sophomore guard Ryan Gallimore led the Tigers with 28 points. He scored 14 in Wittenberg’s second game. Senior forward Landon Hormann scored 21 in the victory.

Croci doesn’t know who might lead Wittenberg in scoring this season. It’s a wide-open race. He expects senior guard Cody Phillippi and senior wing Jaelin Williams to be in the discussion as well.

The Shawnee graduate Williams underwent patellar tendon knee surgery in July, didn’t play in the preseason scrimmage or exhibition game but averaged 5.0 points and 4.5 rebounds in 19 minutes in the first two games.

“Jaelin’s first full practice of the year was the Sunday before we played, so five days before we played,” Croci said. “He practiced full go Sunday, full go Monday and then was halfway the rest of the week. We tapered him off to save him a little bit. He gave us fantastic minutes off the bench both nights.”

Women's team: The Tigers (1-2) earned their first victory Sunday, beating Drew University 76-71 in double overtime Sunday in the consolation game of the Rose City Classic.

Sophomore guard Alex Kiess is leading the team with 14 points per game. Freshman guard Alexis Perry, of Southeastern, is averaging 12.7. Junior wing Bobbie Clayton is averaging 11.7.

Kelly Mahlum is serving as interim coach for Sarah Jurewicz, who has stepped away from the program to be on maternity leave.

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