Last-Second 3-Pointer Rims Out, as Wooster Falls 67-64 in NCAA's

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster came back from a 12-point deficit (50-38) to take the lead, 60-58 with a little over six minutes remaining, but then never made a field goal the rest of the way, including a last-second 3-point shot that would have sent the game to overtime, as Dickinson College advanced to the NCAA Div. III Men's Basketball Championship third round via a 67-64 decision on Saturday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (26-4), which was trying to reach the Round of 16 of the NCAA's for the fifth-straight season, attempted five shots during the last six minutes that would have either given it the lead or tied the game, but none of them fell.

After Doug Thorpe, one of three senior starters for the Fighting Scots, connected on a 3-pointer to make it 60-58, Gerry Wixted of Dickinson (23-6) worked his way to the free throw line each of the visitors' next two trips down the floor, converting all four to put the Red Devils back on top, 62-60 at the 5:20 mark.

Both teams went scoreless until Dickinson's Ted Hinnenkamp got free in the lane for a pair of buckets, sandwiched around two Xavier Brown free throws. Hinnkenkamp's second gave the visitors a 66-62 lead as the clock dipped under three minutes.

Wooster had a couple of quality looks at 3-point attempts, but the score remained stuck at 66-62 until the final 30 seconds. After the Scots third consecutive defensive stop, Brown drove inside, was fouled, and dropped in both free throws to make it a one-possession game (66-64) with 25.3 seconds left.

Wooster nearly stole the ensuing in-bounds pass, then fouled right away, and caught a break when the Red Devils missed the front end of a one-and-one. Evan Pannell rebounded the ball, then Thorpe misfired on a 3-pointer.

Again, the Scots were a bit fortunate as Dickinson's top scorer, Adam Honig, missed the first of two free throws with 9.6 seconds on the clock. After a timeout, he calmly converted the second for the three-point cushion.

Wooster quickly got the ball to midcourt and called another timeout at the 6.2 mark. The Scots passed it into Thorpe, who stumbled briefly, then dribbled past his defender, and had a good line at the potential tying 3-ball from the top of the key, but it rattled out.

Jalen Goodwin is fouled while driving to the basket during Saturday's first half. He split the free throws to give Wooster a 15-14 lead.

While Wooster had its chances late, it may have ultimately been done in by a lackluster first half. Spurred by 18 points from Honig, the Red Devils constructed a 37-29 halftime advantage. Over the last five minutes, Dickinson turned a 26-25 deficit into the eight-point lead, which included scoring six unanswered during the last 1:06.

The Red Devils maintained a somewhat comfortable margin until Pannell went on a personal 7-0 run to bring the Scots within three (52-49). That included one 3-pointer, and Kenny DeBoer, Brown, and Thorpe each added 3-pointers of their own the next three minutes, Thorpe's giving Wooster the 60-58 lead.

Outside of that stretch, the Scots were ice cold from 3-point range, as in 2-of-18 the rest of the game for an overall rate of .273 (6-for-22). Dickinson hit on 11-of-27 of its 3-pointers (.407), which was the difference in the game.

Dan Fanelly paced Wooster's balanced scoring with 15 points and he also contributed eight rebounds, while DeBoer had a 14-point, five-board night. Brown contributed a dozen markers in the scorebook.

Honig wound up with 24 points to lead all scorers, plus he registered four assists without a turnover, while Wixted went for 14 points and seven boards.

It marks the final game for Thorpe, the 2013-14 North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a 1,045-point scorer for his career; DeBoer, a two-time all-conference standout who led the Scots in rebounds (5.1 rpg) and assists (3.0 apg) this season while averaging in double figures (11.1 ppg); and Scott Purcell, who endured numerous injuries early in his career and overcame them to score 6.7 points a night as a senior.