DeVaughn Wingard

The College of Wooster put four in double figures, including career highs from sophomores DeVaughn Wingard and Josh Kipfer with 18 and 11 points, respectively, as the eighth-ranked Fighting Scots' balance and depth paved the way for a 77-58 win at North Coast Athletic Conference foe Oberlin College Tuesday night in Oberlin, Ohio.

Playing its season opener, Wooster (1-0, 1-0 NCAC) took a little while to get going with upstart Oberlin (0-2, 0-1 NCAC) leading 12-11 eight minutes into the action. Then, the Scots strung together back-to-back baskets by Xavier Brown and Kipfer to gain a lead that they never relinquished, and shortly after, Wingard drained consecutive 3-pointers for a 21-16 advantage.

Wooster continued to steadily build the lead, with the first of two Evan Pannell 3-balls making it a double-digit margin for the first time at 30-19, and the Scots owned a 35-22 cushion at halftime.

Starting the second half with a 10-2 run, Wooster extended it to a 21-point game (45-24), however, the Yeomen did not go away, eventually pulling within single digits (61-52) with just under 5:00 remaining.

On the next possession, the Scots' Kenny DeBoer earned a trip to the free throw line, sinking both, then Kipfer worked his way for a lay-up on the inside and Doug Thorpe turned a Scott Purcell steal into a transition lay-up as they all but sealed the outcome with a 67-52 cushion at the 3:27 mark.

Statistically, the biggest difference in the game was turnovers. Wooster's defense helped cause 24, compared to just nine committed. That resulted in 20 more field-goal attempts for the Scots, who shot 41.5 percent (27-for-65), similar to the Yeomen's .444 rate (20-for-45).

Wingard's 18 points included 4-of-8 shooting from outside the arc, while Kipfer was efficient on the inside, making 4-of-5 field goals and 3-of-4 free throws. Both of them came off the bench, another category Wooster dominated. The Scots' second five scored 37 points to nine points by Oberlin's reserves.

Thorpe tallied 14 in the scorebook and the 5-9 guard led Wooster in rebounding with six. Dan Fanelly made a strong first impression, as the freshman scored 11 points, and also notable, Brown had four assists and Purcell a career-high four steals.

Miles Gueno was the lone Yeomen in double figures with 17 points.

This weekend, the Scots host the annual Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic. They will play Ohio Athletic Conference preseason favorite Baldwin Wallace University (1-0) in one of Friday's first-round games at 8 p.m.