Justin Hallowell

WOOSTER, Ohio — Two of the top-10 ranked teams in NCAA Div. III, according to D3hoops.com's preseason poll, will battle for the championship of the 16th annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic on Saturday night at Timken Gymnasium, following No. 4 University of St. Thomas's (Minn.) 92-55 rout of Heidelberg University and No. 9 College of Wooster's 74-61 victory over Carnegie Mellon University in Friday's opening round.

Wooster (1-1) combined a solid defensive effort, holding Carnegie Mellon (0-2) to .373 shooting from the field (19-of-51), and a balanced offense to steadily pull away to its first win of the year.

The lead changed hands six times and there were six ties all within the opening eight minutes before the Fighting Scots went ahead for good. They used a personal four-point run from freshman Josh Claytor to take a 17-14 advantage and then sophomore Matt Fegan drained a 3-pointer, forcing the Tartans into a timeout. Wooster's lead would hover between 3-to-9 the rest of the first half, including 37-31 at the break.

Carnegie Mellon stayed close early in the second, including chipping the deficit down to three at 45-42 with 12:30 to play. The Scots at that point responded with a seven-point burst on back-to-back lay-ups from Bryan Wickliffe, followed by a 3-pointer from Justin Hallowell for their first double-digit cushion (52-42).

On the ensuing possession, the Tartans made it a seven-point game, only to see Wooster go on another 7-0 run, extending its lead to 59-45, and Carnegie Mellon never got it under double figures again.

The Scots struggled at times from the field, but still wound up just under 50 percent (.463; 25-for-54), including 8-of-20 3-pointers. They held a slight edge on the glass, outrebounding the Tartans 35-34, but the difference in the game was Wooster's defense as it forced many tough shots and 15 turnovers.

Individually, Hallowell helped seal the win in the second, nailing 3-of-4 second-half 3-pointers as part of a 17-point night. Wickliffe scored six of his 13 points during the first 2:18 of the game, and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds overall, while frontcourt mate Claytor contributed 12 points on a near-perfect shooting night (4-of-5 field goals, 4-of-4 free throws).

In the backcourt, Nathan Balch tossed in 11 points, while Brandon Johnson registered a squad-high three assists.

Jack Anderson paced Carengie Mellon with 21 points.

Friday' first game saw St. Thomas (1-0) race out to a 20-6 advantage and the Tommies never looked back, leading 42-25 at halftime and dismantling Heidelberg by a final 37-point margin.

Fifteen different St. Thomas players got into the scoring column, with point guard Tyler Nicolai leading the way with 14 tallies, while Jim Smalley's 16 points were the most for the 'Berg.

Tip-off for the St. Thomas-Wooster game is slated for approximately 8 p.m., 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Carnegie Mellon-Heidelberg consolation game, which starts at 6 p.m.