Xavier Brown

A 17-1 run during a nine-minute stretch of the second half allowed The College of Wooster, ranked No. 2 by D3hoops.com, to score a 53-47 comeback victory over Westmont College, an NAIA Div. I school from southern California, on Monday evening in the first game of the Arizona Christian University Classic in Phoenix, Ariz.

Wooster (8-0) was only ahead for a brief stretch during the opening half and trailed 38-31 as the clock ticked under 10 minutes remaining in regulation, but that's when the Fighting Scots put together the decisive stretch. It started with a pair of DeVaughn Wingard free throws, and after a blocked shot by Wingard, Dan Fanelly converted a lay-up to make it a one-possession game (38-35) for the first time in the second half.

Westmont (8-3) answered by earning a trip to the charity stripe, making 1-of-2. Wooster continued its run, though, with Doug Thorpe canning a 3-pointer after a Scott Purcell offensive rebound, and a little over a minute later, Xavier Brown produced a steal and two free throws at the 6:30 mark for the Scots' first lead (40-39) in more than 20 minutes of game action.

Wooster continued to play highly efficient on both ends of the court, as Kenny DeBoer sunk two free throws, Brown drove into the paint for a field goal, Josh Kipfer laid one in on the inside, and Thorpe knocked down a jumper, all while the defense kept the Warriors off the scoreboard. That added up to a 48-39 Scot advantage with a little over 3:00 left.

Westmont finally ended the run at the 2:05 mark and added a 3-pointer on its next offensive set to pull within four (48-44), only to see Brown respond with a clutch jumper with 1:05 left, and Wooster never let the Warriors slice it to a one-possession game.

The key differences in the game statistically were Westmont's 21 turnovers, 10 of which were created by Scot steals, and free throw shooting. Wooster made 14-of-17 (.824), compared to the Warriors' 12-of-26 (.462).

Brown paved the way for the Scots, notching his third 20-point game of the season with 21 on 6-of-12 field goals and 8-of-10 free throws. Another noteworthy contribution came from Evan Pannell, who registered team highs in rebounding (5) and steals (3).

Nate Marsing had 14 points for Westmont.

Wooster will be right back in action Tuesday against the host school, Arizona Christian (9-0), rated No. 6 rated in NAIA Div. I. Tip-off is set for 7:30 MST (9:30 EST).