Josh Claytor

The College of Wooster's defensive effort helped turn the first of its two regular season meetings with archrival Wittenberg University into an unusually decisive outcome, as the No. 16 ranked Fighting Scots rolled to a 60-41 North Coast Athletic Conference victory at Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield, Ohio, Saturday night. The 41 points marked the Tigers lowest offensive output since the 1985-86 season.

The two traditional NCAC powers typically play heated games that go back-and-forth with the outcome not determined until the final minute, but on Saturday, Wooster (5-1, 2-0 NCAC) broke out to a 9-2 lead and was ahead by double digits the majority of the time, including by 14-plus points throughout the second half.

Four different Fighting Scots accounted for those first nine points, which included Josh Claytor's first 3-pointer made since his sophomore season (Jan. 19, 2011). Shortly after establishing that early advantage, Wooster extended it to 16-4 at the 11:10 mark of the first half.

Wittenberg (4-1, 0-1 NCAC) then settled down and strung together eight unanswered points, pulling within four.

The momentum quickly went back to the Scots, who responded with six in a row to push the margin back to double figures (22-12). The two teams exchanged points over a few possessions, followed by another strong stretch for Wooster as it shutout the Tigers for the final three minutes of the half while tallying six points for a 30-16 lead at the break.

Teams have made significant comebacks during the second half in this rivalry in the past, but the Scots would not allow such a run this time as they maintained a 14-to-25-point cushion the rest of the night.

Wooster's performance was very balanced and efficient. The Scots made 23-of-45 field goals (.511), including 7-of-16 3-pointers (.438), and helped limit Wittenberg to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor (16-of-56), an identical defensive field-goal percentage to their season low from last year against the University of Sacred Heart (P.R.) on Dec. 20, 2011.

Another key statistic for the Scots was their 41-25 rebounding advantage.

Ten Wooster players got into the scoring column, paced by Xavier Brown's 12 points. Jake Mays was also in double figures with 10 and he tallied a game-high eight rebounds.

Also of note, Claytor made one other 3-pointer as part of an eight-point outing and Doug Thorpe earned credit for a game-high three assists.

For the Tigers, Scott Masin registered 15 points.

Next, the Scots host Wabash College (2-3, 1-0 NCAC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.