Kenny DeBoer

In a game that featured 17 lead changes and 13 ties, The College of Wooster, up five spots to No. 3 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, emerged with an 81-78 victory at 23rd-ranked  Marietta College on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving at Marietta, Ohio.

Wooster (4-0) used a familiar formula, making the key plays down the stretch to hold off a game opponent. Last weekend, the Fighting Scots put together a late defensive stand and made ensuing free throws to get past Baldwin Wallace University, the preseason favorite in the Ohio Athletic Conference, by a 76-71 count, and put away then-No. 5 Wheaton (Ill.) College 77-73, thanks to extending a late possession with an offensive rebound followed by a couple free throws.

On Wednesday, Wooster was again holding a late lead, 77-75, with under :30 to go when Kenny DeBoer drove to the basket with the shot clock starting to wind down and he converted a shot in traffic for the two-possession lead.

Marietta (4-1) answered with a 3-pointer at the 8.0 second mark to make it a one-point game (79-78), then fouled Wooster's Doug Thorpe with 7.3 left. Thorpe netted both free throws, and next, Dan Fanelly blocked a tying 3-point attempt with the ball going out-of-bounds with 1.2 left. The Pioneers got off a deep 3-pointer that bounced off the rim.

Neither team led by more than six points all game in the back-and-forth affair. The Scots had a series of those six-point leads during the first half before Marietta scored the last four points to pull within 39-37 at halftime. The Pioneers received a big lift from Luis Garcia, who scored 11 points during the opening 20 minutes alone after entering with a 3.5 scoring average, while Thorpe and Xavier Brown combined for 28 of Wooster's 39 points, 14 apiece.

Marietta scored the first five points of the second half, equaling its biggest lead of the game (42-39), but the seesaw battle continued with the Scots rattling off a 9-0 run to go back ahead by six. The mini-runs continued, with the Pioneers eventually retaking the lead at 66-65.

Marietta's last advantage came with 1:21 remaining when A.J. Davis split a pair of free throws, which put the score at 75-74. Wooster answered on the ensuing possession, as Brown found Fanelly on the inside and the latter made a lay-up while being fouled. Fanelly finished the three-point play, and after an offensive foul on the other end, DeBoer came through with his key bucket.

Statistically, Thorpe and Brown finished with 20-point games, 21 and 20, respectively, while Fanelly and Josh Kipfer also reached double figures with 10 apiece. Fanelly and Kipfer were both active defensively, recording three steals apiece and Fanelly adding two blocked shots.

DeBoer's late basket gave him eight points and he added five rebounds, tied for the squad lead with Scott Purcell, and four assists.

Tyler Hammond paced the Pioneers with 17 markers in the scorebook, Andy Dollman had 13, Garcia ended up with an even dozen, and Brennan McKean notched 10 points.

After a break for Thanksgiving, the Scots will take another challenging road trip as they visit 2013 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament champ Ohio Wesleyan University (3-1, 1-0 NCAC) on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m.