Xavier Brown dumps off a pass to Josh Claytor, who scored, during second-half action of Wooster's 74-47 victory over Oberlin.

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster outscored Oberlin College 19-3 to begin the second half, as the top-seeded Fighting Scots pulled away to a 74-47 win against the No. 8 seed during the teams' North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal tilt Tuesday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (22-4) will now serve as host for the NCAC Tournament semifinals and championship game this Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Scots' semifinal opponent will be none other than archrival Wittenberg University (17-9) after the fifth-seeded Tigers knocked out DePauw University 63-62 earlier Tuesday evening. The two rivals have played in the finals 11 times since Wittenberg joined the conference in 1989-90, but never in the semis.

Against Oberlin (7-19), Wooster went into halftime with a 32-25 advantage, then broke the game open during the early part of the second. Xavier Brown started the half with five-straight points, including a 3-ball on the initial possession, and after Geoff Simpson drained one from outside the arc to pull the Yeomen within 37-28, the Scots scored the next 14 points.

Josh Claytor had seven of his nine points for the game during that sequence, including the last five of the 14-0 run that resulted in a 51-28 cushion with 10:50 remaining.

The difference in the game was Wooster's defense, as it helped induce Oberlin into 20 turnovers. The Scots also held the Yeomen to 6-of-21 field goals (.286) during the second half, which lowered their overall rate to .417 (15-for-36), compared to the hosts' .464 (26-for-56).

Wooster's backcourt duo of Doug Thorpe and Brown went for 18 and 13 points, respectively, and they each added three assists. Jake Mays corralled a game-high eight rebounds, helping the Scots to a 33-20 advantage in that category.

Simpson accounted for 27 of Oberlin's 47 points as he made 9-of-13 shots from the floor and the rest of the team was just 6-of-23.

Prior to the Wittenberg-Wooster game Friday, which will tip-off at approximately 8 p.m., second-seeded Ohio Wesleyan University (20-5) will play the No. 3 seed, Kenyon College (16-10), at 6 p.m.