Matt Fegan

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster cruised past a winless Kalamazoo College squad 70-41 to advance to the title game of the 47th annual "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic, but it will face an unexpected opponent as Transylvania University dropped No. 1 ranked Washington University-St. Louis by a 73-69 count in Tuesday's other match-up played at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (7-4) and Transylvania (7-4) are regional opponents and relatively familiar with each other, having met four of the last six years, including during the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Div. III Tournaments.

Against Kalamazoo (0-9), the Fighting Scots never trailed, jumping out to a double-digit advantage at 18-7 less than eight minutes into the action. The closest the Hornets would get after that was nine on a couple of occasions – 22-13 and 24-15. Wooster, behind 13-of-21 field-goal shooting (.619), led 37-21 at the half, which included a Matt Fegan 3-pointer right before the buzzer.

The Scots sealed the outcome with a 17-0 run early in the second, which included traditional three-point plays from Bryan Wickliffe and Justin Hallowell as well as 3-pointers by Justin Warnes, Ian Franks, and Josh Claytor. That made the score 54-23 with just under 15:00 to play and Wooster stayed ahead by 25-plus while freely substituting the rest of the way.

Statistically, the Scots dominated, making exactly 50 percent of their shots (26-of-52) and helping Kalamazoo finish under 30 percent (.288; 17-of-59). Wooster won the rebounding battle 45-28 and the only thing that kept the margin from being more lopsided were its 17 turnovers.

All 11 who dressed for the Scots played at least seven minutes, with Franks and Hallowell winding up in double figures at 15 and 11 points, respectively. Hallowell collected a game-high seven rebounds and Franks passed out five assists, as did Fegan, who had a well-rounded game with nine points and six boards as well.

Ryan Clark paced the Hornets with 10 points.

In the opener, Transylvania nearly led wire-to-wire. The Pioneers scored the final 11 points of the opening half to go ahead 39-30 and then controlled the first 12-to-13 minutes of the second before Washington-St. Louis mounted a furious comeback. Trailing by as much as 17 (54-37) and 62-48 with a little over 7:00 remaining, the Bears pulled within two four times (62-60, 67-65, 69-67, and 71-69), but never had a possession to tie or take the lead as Transylvania made 7-of-8 free throws during the final minute.

Tim Tierney played a significant role in the upset with 25 points, including 3-of-3 3-pointers, as well as five assists and four rebounds, and Barrett Meyer chipped in 14 points off of the bench.

Spencer Gay produced a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds for Washington-St. Louis.

Tip-off for Wednesday's championship game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., or 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Kalamazoo-Washington-St. Louis consolation game, which starts at 5:30 p.m.