Jake Mays

Playing away from home for the seventh time in eight games, The College of Wooster, ranked No. 13 in the latest D3hoops.com top-25 poll, got past the College of Mount St. Joseph, 65-52, as the two teams concluded Transylvania University's Don Lane Classic Wednesday in Lexington, Ky.

Wooster (8-2), a night after its lone loss in the challenging stretch of road games, bounced back by steadily pulling away from Mount St. Joseph (5-5). A Kenny DeBoer 3-pointer near the end of the first half gave the Fighting Scots a 32-29 lead, and they never trailed during the second half.

Early in the second, the lead stretched to 40-31 with Jake Mays scoring six of Wooster's opening eight points during the half. The Lions clawed back to within three (40-37), but shortly after that, the Scots used a mini 6-0 run of their own for their first double-digit advantage at 50-40.

From that point on, Wooster maintained at least a seven-point lead and settled for the 13-point margin.

The key to the win was the Scots' defense and rebounding as they held their opponent under 35 percent from the field (.347; 17-for-49) and owned a plus-13 advantage on the glass (35-22). Offensively, Wooster finished shooting 45.8 percent (22-for-48), including 6-of-14 3-pointers.

Mays led all players in scoring and rebounding with 16 points and eight boards, and also chipped in two blocked shots, and he was named to the all-tournament team for his efforts.

The senior center was one of four Scot players in double figures with DeBoer (12), Doug Thorpe (11), and Xavier Brown (10) joining him.

David Mann had a team-high 14 points for Mount St. Joseph.

After Christmas, Wooster returns to action as it hosts the 50th annual "Mose" Hole/Kiwanis Classic. The Scots will take on two of the top teams from the Ohio Athletic Conference in John Carroll University (4-4) on Dec. 28 and Marietta College (7-2) Dec. 29.