Brandon Johnson scores two of his 17 points against Transylvania.

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster shot 60 percent from the field in the first half (18-of-30), bolting out to a 48-27 lead, and went on to a 92-66 victory over Transylvania University Friday night during NCAA Div. III Men’s Basketball Tournament first-round action at Wooster’s Timken Gymnasium.

The Fighting Scots (26-3) advance to face Centre College, which eased past Capital University 69-55 in a game also played at Timken Gym, on Saturday night. Both teams are in the national rankings (D3hoops.com), with Wooster at No. 2 and Centre No. 23.

Last season, Wooster was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round by Transylvania, but it was all Scots in the rematch Friday. The score was 10-10 about 4:30 into the action and then Wooster came up with eight unanswered points, including a pair of 3-pointers from Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake).

The visiting Pioneers (19-9) cut it down to a five-point margin a couple of times (20-15, 22-17) before Wooster strung together another key stretch, this time going on a 13-1 run, capped by an old fashioned three-point play via Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison), to build a 35-18 advantage.

The Scots would go into the halftime break with a 21-point margin (48-27), and in the second, they quickly pushed the lead out to 34 (66-32).

James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South), Port, and Johnson led the way offensively for Wooster, combining for 57 of the 84 points scored before the regulars were pulled with 3:42 remaining. Cooper had a game-high 21, Port put 19 in the scorebook, thanks in part to 5-of-6 3-point shooting, and Johnson finished with 17.

Also of note, Johnson shared team honors in rebounding with Evan Will (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) as they each had six boards, and in assists with Cooper as each guard dished out three helpers.

For Transylvania, Joey Searle scored 20 points on 7-of-11 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws, however, the Scots were able to keep its other top player in check, as Nick Feagan ended up under his season scoring average (16.0 ppg) at 11 points.

As a team, Wooster shot nearly 60 percent from the field (.596; 34-of-57), including 9-of-16 3-pointers (.563), while holding the Pioneers to around 40 percent (.411; 23-of-56). The Scots also owned a 35-25 edge in the rebounding department.

In the evening’s first game, Centre (24-4) was without its top player, Matt Nestheide, for most of the opening half, but still led 30-22 at the break. The Colonels controlled most of the action in the second, too, taking a double-digit lead early and maintaining it most of the rest of the way.

Marty Bidwell and Tom Port celebrate after Transylvania was forced to call a timeout to stop a Wooster first-half run.

The closest Capital (19-9) would get during the final five minutes was 56-48, but Centre answered with a T.C. Thomason lay-up on the ensuing possession, followed by two defensive stops, sandwiched around a couple of free throws by Nestheide and a John Patterson dunk that made it 62-48 with 3:23 to play.

Thomas Britt made 5-of-8 3-pointers in leading the Colonels with 19 points, while Nestheide still ended up with 14 points and four assists. Matt Jacobson led the squad in rebounding with eight.

Steve Kyser was a force for the Crusaders, tallying 22 markers in the loss.

Centre and Wooster are set for a 7 p.m. tip-off, with the winner advancing to a Div. III sectional, otherwise known as the “Sweet 16.”