Ian Franks

The College of Wooster made 3-pointers on three successive possessions just past the midway point of the second half, extending its lead over Ohio Northern University back to double digits as the Fighting Scots went on to a 67-53 victory in the Radisson Carnegie Mellon Invitational at Pittsburgh, Pa., Saturday.

Wooster (3-0) will play the host school, Carnegie Mellon University (3-2), for the tourney championship on Sunday.

Against Ohio Northern (1-1), the Scots led for all but the opening moments of the regional match-up, however, they could not break away from the Polar Bears until fairly late. Ahead by four at 42-38 with 11:00 remaining, both defenses dug in as a six-possession scoreless stretch ensued. As the clock dipped under nine minutes, Nathan Balch hit 3-pointers on two-straight offensive series for Wooster and then Ian Franks added another, which resulted in a 51-41 lead and an Ohio Northern timeout.

The Polar Bears never got any closer than eight the rest of the way. In fact, the Scots added a 7-0 run shortly after the timeout, capped by a Matt Fegan three-point play on a fast-break lay-up. That gave Wooster its biggest lead of the day, 60-44 with a little more than 4:00 left, and the Scots closed out the 14-point win.

In the first half, Wooster used an early 15-5 run to open up a nine-point advantage at 19-10 less than eight minutes into play. The Polar Bears would account for the next six points, as the Scots committed four turnovers during a five-possession stretch, and the margin would remain between three to seven points for the rest of the half, including 28-25 at break time.

While Wooster scored a season-low 67 points, its offense was pretty efficient, shooting 54.5 percent from the field and a near-perfect 13-of-14 at the free throw line (.929). That helped the Scots overcome 15 turnovers, as did their 37-17 rebounding advantage. They also held Ohio Northern to a field-goal rate under 40 percent (.365).

Individually, Franks paved the way for Wooster with 20 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Balch chipped in 15 points, including 3-of-7 3-pointers, and Bryan Wickliffe was steady once again in the post with 11 points and seven rebounds.

For the Polar Bears, Scott Schnelle was the top scorer with 14 points.

Sunday's tip-off time for the Carnegie Mellon-Wooster tilt is scheduled for 3 p.m.