Xavier Brown

The College of Wooster, No. 15 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, jumped out to a 14-2 lead on Hiram College and led 42-27 at halftime, but had to weather a second-half rally that saw the Terriers pull within six a couple of times before securing a 78-62 North Coast Athletic Conference road win Wednesday night in Hiram, Ohio.

During the early moments, it was all Wooster (11-2, 5-0 NCAC) as the visitors stroked their first five field goals and Hiram (7-7, 1-4 NCAC) committed five turnovers in as many possessions to start the game.

Leading by double figures less than three minutes into the game at 12-2, the Fighting Scots continued to stay comfortably ahead throughout the opening half, including the 15-point lead that they took into the locker room.

In the second stanza, Wooster still seemed firmly in control, owning an 18-point cushion of 57-39 with about 12:30 remaining, and it was 62-49 at the midway point. Then, the Terriers made a strong push, keyed by seven-straight points from Steve Zivoder, which made it a six-point deficit (62-56) for the first time since the middle of the first half.

The margin was six again (64-58) at the 7:10 mark, when the Scots, coming out of a timeout, mounted an 8-0 run, featuring 3-pointers from Doug Thorpe and Geoff FuQuay, as they pushed their lead back to 14 and were never threatened again.

Wooster shot nearly 50 percent from the field (.483; 28-for-58) and outrebounded Hiram by 10 (39-29), and individually, Xavier Brown and Thorpe led the way. Brown notched the first double-double of his career as the sophomore guard tallied 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, while Thorpe tossed in 19 points, highlighted by 5-of-7 3-point shooting.

Other numbers of note for the Scots included Jake Mays's eight-point, nine-rebound, two-block night and eight points apiece from Josh Claytor and DeVaughn Wingard.

Hiram's Aaron Stefanov matched Thrope's 19-point effort and Alan Sheppard chipped in 10 in the loss.

The Scots will be at home for five of their next six games, starting Saturday when DePauw University (9-5, 2-3 NCAC) comes to Timken Gymnasium for a 3 p.m. tip-off.