Despite trailing by 13 early in the second half, the Big Red used a 19-4 run and an almost perfect performance at the foul line in the second half to edge Wittenberg, 75-72, and split the season series.

With the victory, Denison improved to 5-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while the Tigers fell to 5-7. The two squads are now tied for sixth in the league with three weeks remaining in the regular season. Three of DU's final six games are against teams above them in the standings. Saturday's win also marked Denison's first home win over the Tigers since an 89-79 double-overtime victory on Dec. 11, 2004.

The Tigers would score the opening two buckets of the second half to grab their largest lead of the ball game at 47-34. With just over 18 minutes to play, Head Coach Bob Ghiloni's squad settled down and got back to playing "their game". DU's six minute comeback got started when senior Briggs King took an entry pass from Matthew Bauer and converted an easy layup. Following a Jaelin Williams turnover, junior Darius White found classmate Bret Woolard who drained a three to cut the deficit to eight.

After two more empty possessions by the Tigers, Woolard buried a jumper in the paint to pull Denison within two possessions at the 16-minute mark. Chris Sloneker ended the scoring slump with a layup, but the freshman failed to complete the old-fashioned three-point play. On the other end, sophomore guard David Meurer answered with a deep jumper to get the margin back to six. The Big Red continued to close the gap on their next possession when senior Brad Woolard knocked down a pair at the charity stripe. The senior's influence was felt on the next trip down the floor when he took a pass from Meurer and drilled a three that made it a one-point game at 49-48.

After Landon Hormann and Meurer traded off points at the stripe, the Big Red defense held to Tigers to just one attempt on their next possession thanks to a big defensive rebound by senior Robby Weingart. After taking one pump fake, Meurer buried a triple from the right wing to give Denison its first lead since midway through the first at 53-51. In addition to regaining the lead, Meurer's three also capped off an impressive 19-4 run for the home team. The Tigers quickly retook the lead with a Hormann trey. However, after back-to-back turnovers by the two teams, Bret Woolard connected on a fade-away jumper in the paint to grab the lead back at 55-54. Now down by one at the midway point, Meurer took the game over starting with a jumper just inside the free throw line that rattled home. After forcing a Shane Edwards turnover, King found Meurer who hit a dagger three in the right corner. Two DU possessions later, Meurer returned the favor when he got the ball to King in the left corner for another huge triple. With 6:33 to play, Denison took its largest lead of the day at 65-56 when Brad Woolard knocked down a turn-around jumper in the paint.

Now trailing 71-67 with less than a minute to go, Cody Phillippi hit his second three of the day to make it a one-point ball game. After pulling down the rebound off a missed free throw attempt, Williams motored down the court for a fast break layup that gave Wittenberg a 72-71 lead with 17 seconds to go. Following time outs by both Denison and Wittenberg, the Big Red were ready to inbound the ball with 14 seconds on the clock. After coming dangerously close to a five-second violation, King got the ball in to Bret Woolard who received the pass and immediately drove the lane looking for the go-ahead bucket. The shot didn't find the bottom of the hoop, but Sloneker was whistled for the foul which sent Woolard to the line with exactly 10 seconds to play.

In a bit of déjà vu from Wednesday's game at DePauw, the junior stepped to the charity stripe with the game on the line. With the DU fans holding their collective breath, Woolard drained the first shot to square the contest at 72-72. The second attempt wasn't as automatic as the first, but after a few bounces and a generous roll the ball fell in to put the home team in front 73-72.

Williams quickly moved the ball down the court and tried to spin away from Bauer for an open layup. However, King provided a double team on Williams which forced his shot off the mark and allowed Woolard to grab the board and draw a foul with 1.9 seconds to play. With ice in his veins, the 6-foot-3 junior drained both attempts to extended Denison's lead to 75-72. After the Woolard make, Wittenberg coach Bill Brown called a full timeout to draw up one last play. Alex Fultz tried to connect with a home run pass, but his heave was picked off by who else but Woolard. The interception brought the game to an end and every Big Red fan to their feet.

Denison improved their shooting percentage by 12 points in the second half, converting 58 percent (14-for-24) from the field. DU also shot 50 percent (5-for-10) from 3-point range and 89 percent (8-of-9) from the line. Additionally, the Big Red committed just one time in the second period after giving the ball away nine times in the opening 20 minutes of the game.

Bret Woolard finished with a career-high 28 points after going 9-for-14 (.643) from the field, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long range. The junior also went 7-for-8 (.875) at the foul line, grabbed four rebounds and had one steal. Bret's brother Brad chipped in 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes off the bench. Brad knocked down all four of his attempts from the field, which included a pair of three pointers. Meurer had with 12 points and a game-high five assists, while King added 10 points.

Phillippi led the Tigers with 14 points, while Williams and Hormann chipped in 13 and 10, respectively. Edwards led the team with six rebounds and four assists.

The Big Red (11-8) will cap off this two-game homestand on Wednesday when they host Oberlin (8-11, 4-8 NCAC) who is coming off a one-point loss at DePauw. Tip-off from Livingston Gymnasium is scheduled for 6 p.m.