For Immediate Release Feb. 11, 2009

Contact: Ryan Maurer E-Mail: rmaurer@wittenberg.edu

David Nowicki

DELAWARE, Ohio - The Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops put together a mind-blowing 22-0 run to start the game, a deficit simply too significant for the Wittenberg Tigers to overcome in an 83-59 loss.

While the Tigers outscored OWU 23-17 the rest of the first half and managed to whittle the lead down to 11 points midway through the second half, it was a case of too little, too late, as Wittenberg fell to 11-10 overall and 8-5 in the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC). Ohio Wesleyan picked up its ninth straight victory to improve to 15-6 overall and 11-2 in the NCAC, good for a first-place tie with Wooster, which travels to Wittenberg on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Tigers remained in a fourth-place tie with Kenyon after the Lords were stunned by last-place Oberlin Wednesday.

The Bishops posted their second straight lop-sided win over the Tigers with a 27-point advantage in bench scoring, seven more three-pointers on 43 percent shooting from long range, a 38-33 rebounding advantage and by forcing 13 Wittenberg turnovers, compared to nine for OWU.

Individually, the Tigers were paced by 12 points from junior guard David Nowicki (Carmel, Ind./Westfield) and 11 points from senior wing Kevin Murray (Carmel, Ind./Carmel). Twelve different players scored in the game for Wittenberg.

Wittenberg returns to action Saturday as arch-rival Wooster visits. It is Take A Kid To The Game Day, hosted by Wittenberg's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, featuring entertainment from J.J. Jumper, the official mascot of NCAA Basketball.

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