Brandon Johnson

GREENSBORO, N.C. – A valiant comeback effort saw The College of Wooster pull within five after trailing by 20, but the Fighting Scots were ultimately done in by a miserable offensive start and their season came to an end in the sectional semifinals of the NCAA Div. III Men's Basketball Championships at the hands of host Guilford College by a final of 75-68 Friday night inside a steamy Ragan-Brown Field House.

Wooster, which swept both the North Coast Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles and was making its sixth appearance in the round of 16 of the NCAA tourney over a 12-year stretch after winning a pair of games last weekend, winds up at 25-6 for 2009-10.

The Scots, ranked No. 17 by D3hoops.com heading into the NCAA's, fell behind by 20 for the second time in the contest early in the second half (42-22), but then stormed back via a 19-4 run to make a game of it over the final 13 minutes. Ian Franks accounted for seven Wooster points during that stretch.

Shortly after a timeout at the 13:07 mark by No. 3 Guilford, which improved to 29-2 overall, the Scots had four possessions with the margin at six points (48-42), but came up empty each time. The last of the four came right after the eight-minute media timeout, but an open jumper bounded off the rim and then Clay Henson hit a series of key shots for the Quakers, starting with a deep, well-defended 3-pointer from the left wing.

Two of Henson's makes pushed the lead back to double figures at 54-44 and 56-46, and Guilford was even able to push it out a little bit further, 62-50 with a little over 2:00 remaining.

Wooster attempted to extend the game as long as possible with a series of offensive conversions, coming as close as 73-68 with 10.8 seconds left, but the Quakers were just too clutch at the free throw line, draining 13-of-17 over the final two minutes.

Early on, the Scots missed their first five shots and committed two turnovers, which allowed Guilford to jump out to a 12-0 lead. Brandon Johnson broke Wooster's cold spell, hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key, and it pulled within five on a couple of occasions at 14-9 and 16-11.

Then, the Quakers mounted the game's biggest run, tallying 13 unanswered for an 18-point cushion (29-11). Later in the first half, Guilford gained a 40-20 lead and it was a nearly-insurmountable 40-22 score at the break.

The Scots wound up outshooting the Quakers from the field, 43.8 percent (28-for-64) to 37.5 (24-for-64), but they couldn't find their range from outside the arc, making just 9-of-31 (.290) from there.

One of the biggest differences was rebounding, in which Guilford ended up with a 47-36 advantage. Wooster had trouble matching up with the 6-9 Tyler Sanborn, who had a career-high 23 boards to go with a team-leading 21 points.

Franks led all players with 27 points, all of which came during the second half when he made 12-of-17 field goals. He also had squad highs in rebounding with nine and assists with four, while Nathan Balch was a steady contributor throughout with 15 markers in the scorebook.

The loss marks the end of Johnson's standout career. The senior point guard had nine points and three assists, finishing as the Scots' 16th-leading scorer (1,153 points) as well as third in both assists (406) and steals (184). Most impressive, Wooster had a 101-20 record (.835) with Johnson on the court.