Tiger Men's Basketball Pulls Away From Muskingum, 76-68

NEW CONCORD, OH - The Wittenberg Tigers completed a second-half rally with a game-ending 12-1 run over the final 5:13 to secure a 76-68 victory over host Muskingum in non-conference action.

Eddie Brown (Lewis Center, OH / Olentangy Orange) hit a three-pointer with 4:05 left to forge the game's fifth and final tie at 67-67. Less than one minute later, Tyler Galluch (Springfield, OH / Catholic Central) added what turned out to be the go-ahead three-pointer, set up by an offensive rebound and kickout assist from Daniel Asher (Indianapolis, IN / Roncalli).

From there, the Tigers slowly pulled away as the Muskies' cold shooting night finally caught up with them. Galluch and Brown both made layups, and Brown put the game on ice in the closing seconds with a pair of free throws.

The win was the second straight to start the 2024-25 season under the direction of first-year Head Coach Darren Hertz. Muskingum lost its second straight after opening the season with an impressive road victory over perennial powerhouse Rochester.

The key to the win for Wittenberg was hot shooting, particularly from long distance. After hitting just 1-of-11 shots from three-point range in the first half, the Tigers made 7-of-10 in the second half to overtake Muskingum. For the game, Wittenberg shot 55.8% from the field (29-of-52), including 38.1% on three-pointers, and the Tigers also finished 10-of-12 from the free throw line.

At the other end of the floor, Wittenberg's defense limited Muskingum to 38.5% shooting, including 9-of-27 from three-point range. The Muskies did hold a big rebounding advantage of 35-27, including a whopping 19 offensive boards.

Individually, Wittenberg was led in scoring for a second straight game by Trey Killens (Cincinnati, Ohio / Mason). He tallied 26 points on 11-of-20 shooting to surpass the 1,000-point plateau for his collegiate career. Killens is just the 36th player in program history to reach that scoring milestone with all of his points coming at Wittenberg, in addition to two players who surpassed 1,000 career points while playing for Wittenberg after transferring from another school.

Killens had plenty of support on this night, starting with Galluch, who finished with 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and Brown, who contributed a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Wittenberg returns home for a date with perennial powerhouse and regional rival Hope College at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, in Pam Evans Smith Arena.