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Tough schedule awaits first-place Wittenberg

The Tigers still have to play the other top five teams in the NCAC.

$Wittenberg's Cam Walton (3) \uFEFFis guarded by Barry Flynn of DePauw during Wednesday's game at the Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic$

Barbara Perenic Wittenberg's Cam Walton (3) \uFEFFis guarded by Barry Flynn of DePauw during Wednesday's game at the Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer 11:22 PM Friday, January 27, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — In most seasons, a two-game lead with seven games to play would seem enormous. That’s not the case this season in the North Coast Athletic Conference.

The Wittenberg men’s basketball team, chasing its first regular-season championship since 2004, sits all alone in first place at 8-1. Two games back, however, is a traffic jam of historic proportions.

Wabash, DePauw, Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster are all  6-3. There’s a chance the top five teams in the conference could all be separated by two games or fewer, and that has never happened.

“We have four games at home and three away,” Wittenberg coach Bill Brown said. “It’s going way too fast. We just have to protect our home court and squeeze out a couple of wins on the road, and we’ll have reached our goal, which we haven’t reached in a long time.”

The Tigers can’t afford a misstep today with a 3 p.m. game at last-place Oberlin. The Tigers have beat the Yeomen 46 times in a row, a streak that began in 1980. Wittenberg beat Oberlin 69-57 on Dec. 3 and had a double-digit lead for the last 31 minutes.

Of the five teams in contention, Wittenberg and DePauw have the most favorable schedules because they each have four home games remaining. Each of the top five teams all play each other in the next three weeks.

• Wittenberg is 4-0 against the top teams.

• Wabash is 2-3, and that includes two games against DePauw. Wabash beat DePauw in the first game, but it didn’t count in the NCAC standings. They still have one more game against each other.

• Seven-time defending champion Wooster is 1-3 against the top teams, having beaten only Ohio Wesleyan.

• DePauw is 2-3 against the top teams.

• Ohio Wesleyan is 2-2 against the top teams.

Contact this reporter at  (937) 328-0351 or  David.Jablonski@coxinc.com.

Who: Wittenberg (14-4, 8-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) at Oberlin (6-12, 1-8 NCAC)

When: 3 p.m. today

Where: Phillips Gym in Oberlin, Ohio

Radio: WUSO-FM (89.1)

Video: Link available at GoYeo.com.

Series: Wittenberg leads 69-6.

Last meeting: Wittenberg won 69-57 on Dec. 3.

Last game: On Wednesday, Wittenberg beat DePauw 66-62, and Oberlin lost 70-56 to Denison.

Starting lineups

Wittenberg

Player Ht. Yr. Pos. PPG

Michael Duffy 5-10 Sr. G 0.0

Josh McKee 6-2 Sr. W 9.4

Michael Cooper 6-5 Sr. W 9.4

Alex Brandt 6-7 Sr. P 8.2

Clayton Black 6-7 Sr. P 15.3

Oberlin

Andrew Fox 6-3 Jr. G 13.3

Miles Gueno 6-0 Fr. G 4.4

Josh Merritt 5-8 Sr. PG 15.9

Geoff Simpson 6-5 So. F 11.1

Seth Flatt 6-8 Fr. C 0.7

Scouting report

Wittenberg notes: In his last eight games, Black has raised his average more than 5 points, climbing into a tie for fifth place in the NCAC in scoring. He now has 1,014 career points. He could pass Eddie Ford (1975) and Anthony Robinson (1996) and move into the top 30 in career scoring at Wittenberg today. Ford and Robinson both scored 1,025. Black should at least reach the top 20 before the season is over.

Oberlin notes: The Yeomen have lost four games in a row. Their only NCAC victory is against Allegheny.

Women’s game: The Tigers play at Oberlin at 1 p.m., trying to bounce back after a 90-53 loss to DePauw. The Tigers are 8-8 and 4-4 in the NCAC. They beat Oberlin 67-50 on Dec. 3.

DAVID JABLONSKI, STAFF WRITER

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