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| Jake Mays |
The College of Wooster, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Div. III men's basketball (D3hoops.com) for an eighth consecutive week, matched a season high in scoring Wednesday night, as the Fighting Scots cruised past North Coast Athletic Conference foe Kenyon College 103-67 in Gambier, Ohio.
Both offenses got off to relatively slow starts, as the score sat at 10-8 just over six minutes into play. Then, Wooster (19-0, 10-0 NCAC) set the tone for the remainder of the game, tallying points on its next four possessions as part of a 9-2 run go ahead by nine (19-10).
Kenyon (8-11, 4-6 NCAC) kept up for the next several minutes, maintaining a single-digit margin, but later in the half, the Scots added a 13-4 stretch to transform a seven-point lead (27-20) into 16 (40-24), and it stood at 17 at halftime (47-30). That run featured Nathan Balch's third and fourth 3-pointers of the game.
During the second stanza, Wooster steadily expanded on its lead, eventually constructing it to as much as 39 points (94-55).
The differences in the game were the Scots' defense forcing 18 turnovers and rebounding, which saw them pile up a 42-29 advantage. Wooster, which also scored 103 points in the season opener against Cincinnati Christian University, shot just under 50 percent from the field (.477; 31-for-65) and spent a significant portion of the night at the free throw line where it made 31-of-36 (.861).
The Scots had a couple of 20-point nights with Balch's 22 and Ian Franks's 20. Balch, a shooting guard, nailed 8-of-11 field goals, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, while the other starter to reach double figures was Bryan Wickliffe, who recorded 12 points to go with game highs in both rebounding (8) and steals (3).
Off the bench, Jake Mays scored a career-high 12 points and Ryan Snyder matched a season high with 10. Ironically, they both went 8-for-8 at the foul line.
The Lords' top scorer was Brian Lebowitz with 17 points.
The Scots have a rare Saturday off from competition and will next play at Hiram College (9-9, 3-6 NCAC) in a week (Feb. 2).