Justin Hallowell

The College of Wooster scored on its first seven offensive possessions, part of a 12-0 run to start the game, and never looked back en route to a 109-86 rout of fellow North Coast Athletic Conference foe Earlham College Saturday afternoon in Richmond, Ind. The 109 points marked a season high for the Fighting Scots.

The early burst for Wooster (12-5, 7-1 NCAC), which remains in a first-place tie in the conference standings with Hiram College (12-5, 7-1 NCAC), was fueled by Justin Hallowell (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington). He drilled two 3-pointers and another jumper for eight of the team's initial 12 points.

Earlham (2-15, 2-6 NCAC) halted the spurt with a couple of free throws (12-2), but Wooster's offense remained hot. Nathan Balch (Westerville, Ohio / Olentangy) would hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and add another less than two minutes later for a 20-4 margin.

All told, the Scots made their first eight field goal attempts, four of which were 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 free throws over the opening 7:04. They never allowed the lead to dip under double digits the remainder of the game. Wooster went ahead by as much as 26 during the first half and owned a 55-32 cushion at the break, thanks to 75.0 percent shooting from the field (21-of-28), including 9-of-12 3-pointers.

The closest it would get in the second half was 69-53 and 71-55. Then, the Scots put the game away with a 15-2 run for an insurmountable 29-point advantage (86-57).

Overall, Wooster made more than two-thirds of its shots from the floor (.677; 42-for-62) and ended up 15-of-23 from 3-point range (.652), marking season-high shooting percentages in each category. The Scots also outrebounded the Quakers 37-26 and limited their hosts to a little over 40 percent from the field (.413; 26-for-63).

Wooster's high-scoring game was the result of a balanced effort as six players reached double figures. Balch wound up with a game-high 17 points, keyed by 5-of-7 3-point shooting, while veterans Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) and Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) each posted 15-point outings, a season high for the latter. Bidwell's stat line also included a season-best seven assists without a turnover as well as three steals.

Ian Franks (Greenwich, Ohio / South Central), Hallowell, and Matt Fegan (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville) contributed 13, 12, and 11 points, respectively, to the winning effort. Fegan made 3-of-4 3-pointers, following a 4-of-4 effort on Wednesday night.

Tristian Gregory generated most of Earlham's offense, finishing with 29 points, including 14-of-16 free throws.

The Scots will look to keep rolling on Wednesday when they host Allegheny College (7-10, 3-5 NCAC) at 7:30 p.m.