Milt Davis

The College of Wooster, which continues to be ranked No. 2 in NCAA Div. III (D3hoops.com), closed the first half on a 19-4 run to grab a 44-23 cushion and outscored Kenyon College similarly during the second half for a 92-52 North Coast Athletic Conference win Wednesday night inside Tomsich Arena at Gambier, Ohio.

Wooster (12-1, 6-0 NCAC) was trailing 11-7 early on, then scored 12 unanswered points, including five by Josh Kipfer and four from Jalen Goodwin, to take an eight-point lead at the 9:10 mark of the opening half.

During the final 5:27 of the half, though, is when the Fighting Scots really made their move, turning a 25-18 advantage into 44-23, with Scott Purcell hitting a pair of 3-pointers during that stretch.

Both offenses were hot early in the second, but then Wooster's defense clamped down on Kenyon (6-6, 3-2 NCAC) during a 10-0 run that pushed the margin to 64-34 with 12:41 remaining. The Scots freely substituted over the last nine minutes, eventually securing the 40-point victory.

Wooster featured a balanced attack, while making 46.9 percent from the field (30-for-64) and reaching the free throw line frequently where it connected on 23-of-29 attempts (.793). Defensively, the Scots limited the Lords to a rate of .351 from the floor (20-for-57) and helped induce 19 turnovers, compared to just eight of their own.

Four Wooster players reached double figures in scoring. Doug Thorpe tallied 16 points, with 10 coming during a perfect-shooting second half plus all four of his assists.

Freshman Milt Davis produced his first double-digit game with 12 points in just 13 minutes, while Dan Fanelly and Kenny DeBoer contributed 12 and 11 markers, respectively. DeBoer also distributed a game-high five assists and shared team rebounding honors, as he and Evan Pannell corralled six apiece to give the Scots a 41-36 team advantage in that category.

Kenyon was paced by Julian Pavlin's 12 points.

Wooster has a rare Saturday off coming up and returns to action next Wednesday when it will host Hiram College (3-9, 1-4 NCAC) at 8 p.m.