Nathan Balch surveys the defense during the Scots' NCAC Tournament semifinal match-up with Ohio Wesleyan.

WOOSTER, Ohio – Behind a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds from guard Ian Franks, The College of Wooster held off Ohio Wesleyan University 70-62 during Friday night’s second semifinal of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Timken Gymnasium, and in doing so, the Fighting Scots advance to the championship game for the third-straight season and 14th of the last 15.

Wooster (25-2), the top seed and ranked No. 5 in NCAA Div. III (D3hoops.com), will take on none other than archrival and second-seeded Wittenberg University (19-7), which knocked off Wabash College 65-63 when Seth Hill converted a length-of-the-court drive right before the final horn in the evening’s first semi. Saturday’s tilt will mark the 100th meeting between the two, with Wittenberg leading the all-time series slightly at 52-47.

While Friday’s second game didn’t end on a buzzer beater, it was closely contested the whole way, similar to the teams’ match-up less than a week ago when the Scots prevailed 81-72 to clinch the league’s regular season championship.

Wooster never trailed the final 33 minutes this time against Ohio Wesleyan (16-11), however, the outcome was in doubt up until the last 30 seconds. The Battling Bishops were within four points at 60-56 with 2:33 left before the Scots’ Bryan Wickliffe earned a trip to the charity stripe, dropping in both free throws.

On the ensuing possession, Ohio Wesleyan went 0-for-2 at the free throw line, and then both teams traded turnovers. After a Wooster timeout, Franks worked into the paint where he was fouled and the senior standout converted the pair to push the advantage to 64-56 at the 1:49 mark.

Andy Winters quickly got it back to a two-possession game with a driving lay-up, only to foul Franks in the backcourt, who in turn, sunk two more free throws to make it 66-58 with 1:36 left.

Again, Winters found an open lane for a lay-up, pulling the visitors within six, and then the Bishops fouled Nathan Balch with 1:16 on the clock. He canned both of his attempts for another eight-point cushion (68-60), then Ohio Wesleyan missed a couple of 3-pointers, sandwiched around a Franks free throw, and the Bishops relented shortly thereafter.

An 11-0 run during the first half saw the Scots turn an 11-9 deficit into a 20-11 lead, but Ohio Wesleyan came back to tie it a series of times (25-25, 27-27, 29-29). Wooster accounted for five of the last six points to go ahead 34-30 at break time.

The Scots quickly extended the lead to 10 (40-30) to start the second, only to see the Bishops quickly close within two (43-41). After that, Wooster responded with a seven-point run (50-41), and it remained at least a four-point margin the rest of the way.

Statistically, the Scots owned a healthy 46-30 rebounding margin, which was the biggest difference in the game. Both teams shot poorly from outside, combining to go 5-for-34 from 3-point range, while Wooster’s late game parade to the free throw line resulted in a season-high 37 attempts, making 26 for a .703 rate. Also of note, Ohio Wesleyan only committed five turnovers, including zero in the first half.

Franks’ double-double marked his third of the season and sixth of his career, and he also issued a team-high two assists. Wickliffe added 12 points and eight boards, while Balch contributed 11 markers in the scorebook.

For the Bishops, Winters scored 16 points on 8-of-21 field goals, to go with a game-high five assists.

In a thrilling ending earlier, Wabash’s Nick Curosh tied it 63-63 with 58.5 seconds remaining and then Wittenberg came up empty. The Little Giants’ All-American candidate, Wes Smith, worked the shot clock down before attempting a pull-up jumper. It was short, but Curosh grabbed the rebound and tried to go back up quickly with it. Clayton Black of the Tigers swatted it away to an opportunistic Hill, who raced up court and got off a contested runner from the right side of the paint right before the buzzer that found its target.

The other story of the game was the shooting proficiency of Wittenberg’s Chris Sullivan, who tied an NCAC Tournament record with nine 3-pointers made out of 11 attempts as he led all scorers for the day with 29 points.

For Wabash, Smith had 19 points and Curosh posted a double-double of 10 points and 15 boards.

Wittenberg and Wooster will tip off at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Div. III Championships on the line. In addition to being the 100th meeting between the two rivals, it marks their 11th in the finals of the NCAC Tournament. Last year, the Scots got past the Tigers 88-77 during the championship round.