Josh Claytor

Jake Mays

While The College of Wooster, ranked No. 14 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, has already clinched a piece of the 2012-13 North Coast Athletic Conference championship, the Fighting Scots would like nothing more than to win the championship outright against their fierce rival, Wittenberg University (15-7, 8-5 NCAC), this Saturday night, Feb. 9, at 3,400-seat Timken Gym. Wittenberg, currently in third-place in the league standings, is attempting to take a big step towards securing a top-four seed for the NCAC Tournament, and thus a home game in the quarterfinals.  Prior to the 7:30 p.m. tip-off, Wooster will celebrate the careers of Josh Claytor (Oxford, Ohio / Talawanda) and Jake Mays (Tallmadge, Ohio / Tallmadge) as the senior posts are making their final regular season appearance at home.

With their 15th NCAC title, eighth of the past nine years and 12th over the previous 16, the Scots have continued the rivals' run as either Wittenberg or Wooster have won the NCAC championship every year since 1989-90 (Allegheny College has been the only one to break in as a co-champ during 1992-93 with Wittenberg).

There is much more that makes this such a compelling rivalry. The two programs rank 1-2 in NCAA Div. III in all-time men's basketball wins, Wittenberg with 1,668 and Wooster with 1,594. This marks the 104th meeting between the two, as the Fighting Scots look to cut into the Tigers' slight 54-49 edge (Wittenberg leads 29-27 since 1989-90 when it joined Wooster in the NCAC, and neither has won more than four in a row against the other during that stretch). Of the first 103 Wittenberg-Wooster games, the final outcome was five points or less in 42, or 40.8 percent, including nine of the last 19 and 22 of the last 48. Additionally, one or the other has won the NCAC Tournament all but three times the past 23 years, and they've met in the championship game 11 times (they met in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament finals twice).

On the Air: Every Wooster men's basketball game can be heard live in the Wooster area on WQKT 104.5 FM or on the radio station's website at http://wqkt.com/. Mike Breckenridge serves as the "Voice of the Fighting Scots."

Wooster also will provide a live video feed (with audio) of the game at the following link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wooster-mens-basketball.

Scots' In-Season Update: Eight letterwinners returned for the Scots in 2012-13, and despite several playing different roles, they, along with nine freshmen, have successfully reloaded following the graduation of three starters.

Wooster's non-league slate was highlighted by wins over Baldwin Wallace University (81-74) and Marietta College (59-57), two of the top-three teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference this season, while its two losses came against squads that have been nationally-ranked at times, Adrian College (57-56 on a buzzer beater) and Transylvania University (68-62).

Within the NCAC, the Scots only blemish came at Wabash College (55-48), and they swept the regular season series against second-place Ohio Wesleyan University (88-82 and 74-67 in OT) and took the first against archrival and third-place Wittenberg University (60-41).

As usual, Wooster is balanced offensively and plays stingy team defense. The Scots currently rate seventh in NCAA Div. III in defensive field-goal percentage (.374) and they have six players averaging 6.0 or more points, led by the guard combination of Xavier Brown (Bowling Green, Ohio / Bowling Green) and Doug Thorpe (Columbus, Ohio / Eastmoor Academy). Brown, a sophomore, is pumping in 13.9 points a game and Thorpe, a junior, 13.3, and they're also the top distributors on the team, averaging 4.5 assists between them.

In the post, seniors Jake Mays (Tallmadge, Ohio / Tallmadge) and Josh Claytor (Oxford, Ohio / Talawanda) allow Wooster to have a veteran presence on the floor at all times. Subbing in for each other, they average a nearly identical 9.3 and 9.1 points, respectively, with Mays also producing 8.4 rebounds and 1.8 blocks and Claytor 4.3 rebounds.

The other starters are sophomores Kenny DeBoer (Westerville, Ohio / Westerville North) and Evan Pannell (Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban). DeBoer, a 6-5, 220-pound forward, has come on strong of late, raising his season averages to 8.2 points and 4.6 rebounds. Noteworthy, he made 16 consecutive field goals during one four-game stretch (Jan. 16-26). Pannell, a 6-2 athletic perimeter player, is one of the Scots' top defenders while chipping in 6.9 points a night.

One of Wooster's other strengths is depth, as a number of others have the potential to make key contributions any given game, such as sophomore guard Jalen Goodwin (Liberty Twp., Ohio / Lakota East), freshman wing DeVaughn Wingard (Shaker Hts., Ohio / Orange), freshman wing Alex LaLonde (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster), who joined the team mid-semester after transferring from the Air Force Academy, and freshman guard Geoff FuQuay (Arnold, Pa. / Valley).