Jake Mays

The College of Wooster, currently ranked No. 14 by D3hoops.com, put together an 18-5 stretch midway through the second half to break open its lone regular season meeting with Denison University, and pulled away to an 89-70 win in North Coast Athletic Conference action Wednesday night at Granville, Ohio.

It was a one-possession game seven minutes into the second half when Ryan Snyder scored the first of nine unanswered points for Wooster (17-3, 8-3 NCAC) on a put-back of an offensive rebound, following Jake Mays's lone missed shot of the night. A turnover by Denison (8-12, 5-6 NCAC) ensued, then Mays converted a lay-up, assisted by Snyder, and Doug Thorpe added five points during the Fighting Scots' next two possessions, quickly putting the visitors up 60-49.

The run was halted momentarily, as a Snyder 3-pointer was sandwiched around two Big Red 3-balls. Next, Thorpe completed an old-fashioned three-point play and Justin Hallowell contributed one from outside the arc for a 69-54 lead with under eight minutes remaining.

The Scots went on to own a 13-to-20-point advantage the rest of the way.

During the first half, Denison opened up a 10-7 advantage, but keyed by 14 points from Mays, Wooster gained a series of nine-point leads, including 39-30 at the break.

Despite a tough night from 3-point land (6-for-21), the Scots shot 53.3 percent overall from the field (32-for-60), while limiting the Big Red to about 10 percent less (.431; 25-for-58). Wooster also committed a season-low seven turnovers and passed out 18 assists.

Mays paced five Scots in double figures with a career-high 16 points coming on 6-of-7 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws, and he also corralled a team-leading six rebounds. Xavier Brown was next with 15 points, followed by Josh Claytor with an even dozen, and Hallowell and Thorpe with 10 apiece.

Also noteworthy, Matt Fegan and Snyder each tallied four assists, with Snyder also going 3-for-3 from the floor as part of a seven-point night, and Justin Warnes threw down two dunks.

Dimonde Hale was a bright spot for Denison with 25 points and nine rebounds.

Wooster's win sets up a key match-up Saturday afternoon, as Wabash College (15-5, 7-4 NCAC) visits Timken Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. tip between two of the top-four teams in the conference standings. Wabash got the better of the Scots earlier this season (Dec. 10), prevailing 72-58 in Crawfordsville, Ind.