Ian Franks

Ian Franks of The College of Wooster drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer just 5.6 seconds after Allegheny College's Devone McLeod had tied it with a 3-pointer of his own, as the Fighting Scots, who had just been awarded the No. 1 ranking in this week's D3hoops.com weekly top-25 poll, escaped the David V. Wise Center in Meadville, Pa., with a 76-73 North Coast Athletic Conference win on Wednesday night.

It marked the second season in a row the two squads went back-and-forth deep into their game at Allegheny. Last year, Franks played the hero's role as well, tossing in a career-high 33 points as he led Wooster to a 69-68 comeback victory that it had been trailing 59-51 with 5:40 remaining.

On Wednesday, Wooster (7-0, 3-0 NCAC) had a chance to ice the game, however, Nathan Balch missed his first free throw of the season, ending a string of 21 in a row on the front end of a one-and-one with 13.1 seconds to play. Allegheny (4-5, 1-2 NCAC) collected the rebound and McLeod knocked down his trifecta from the right wing to even the score at 73 with the clock reading 5.6.

The Scots did not call timeout, quickly in-bounding to Matt Fegan, who gave the ball to Franks around the mid-court stripe and the senior All-American launched the game-winner, estimated at 23 feet, from just right of the top of the key.

Wooster only trailed for seven possessions the entire contest, answering each time the Gators took the lead. During the first half, the Scots scored eight of the first 10 points and extended that advantage to as much as 28-20. The key stretch came of the stanza came when Allegheny accounted for the final seven points to tie it 33-33 at the break.

Over the opening 10 minutes of the second half, there were 12 lead changes. Then, Wooster slowly pulled ahead, using a 12-5 stretch that started around the six-minute mark to go up 71-64 entering the final 2:18.

The pesky Gators would put together a 9-2 run, capped by McLeod's 3-ball to tie the game for the ninth time.

Statistically, the Scots' 14-for-29 shooting from 3-point land (.483) keyed the victory. That overcame a season-low .483 defensive field-goal percentage (29-for-60) and they were also outrebounded (34-32) for the first time this year.

Franks' last basket gave him a team-high 19 points, one ahead of Justin Hallowell's 18 as the latter drained 4-of-6 3-pointers to go with six assists. Fegan also dished out six and produced 15 points, all coming on 3-poitners (5-for-10), while Balch chipped in an even dozen points.

McLeod and James Ness scored 20 apiece for Allegheny, while Donte Briscoe was all over the place with 11 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and three steals in the setback.

Next, Wooster travels to Ohio Wesleyan University (3-5, 1-1 NCAC) Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off.