Xavier Brown

WOOSTER, Ohio – Xavier Brown scored his 1,000th career point and an explosive first half was enough for No. 2 ranked College of Wooster to cruise past Hiram College, as the Fighting Scots built a 50-23 lead by intermission and eventually closed out the Terriers 94-71 in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Wednesday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (13-1, 7-0 NCAC) now sits alone in first-place in the NCAC, with No. 9 ranked Wittenberg University (12-2, 6-1 NCAC) having been tripped up for the first time in league play earlier Wednesday. The two archrivals will meet for the first time this season on Saturday night in Springfield, Ohio.

Brown, who becomes the 38th player in team history to reach the 1,000 milestone, played a key role in the Scots jumping out to a 30-10 cushion 12:22 into the game. He accounted for 10 points as well as three steals during that opening stretch.

Wooster continued to extend that lead, a short while later constructing a 10-0 run, which included two Doug Thorpe 3-pointers, to push it to 45-15. During the last 2:49 of play before the halftime break, Hiram (3-11, 1-6 NCAC) trimmed the margin to 27 points.

The Terriers actually outscored the Scots during the second half, 48-44, however, the closest the visitors ever got was within 19 (76-57).

Statistically, the biggest difference in the game was Wooster's defense in the first half. The Scots helped limit Hiram to 25.7 percent shooting from the field (9-for-35), and for the game the Terriers were under 40 percent (.391; 25-for-64). In addition, they committed 22 turnovers.

Wooster, on the other hand, was just under 50 percent (.492; 29-for-59) while making frequent trips to the free throw line where it hit 78.8 percent (26-for-33), and it also turned the ball over 10 less times (12).

Brown's 1,000th point came on a transition lay-up a little more than four minutes into the second, and he wound up with a 17-point, four-rebound, three-assist, four-steal effort, while Scott Purcell also had a noteworthy performance. The senior scored a career-high 18 points, thanks to a perfect 12-of-12 free throw shooting. Purcell's performance at the charity stripe marked the best by a Scot since current assistant coach Ian Franks went 13-for-13 on Dec. 30, 2008.

Thorpe also put 18 markers in the scorebook, while Kenny DeBoer contributed 17 and Evan Pannell 10. DeBoer, Pannell, and Purcell shared team rebounding honors with six apiece.

Wooster's defense held the conference's leading scorer, Aaron Stefanov, to 11 points, 10 under his average, and Chris Zurowski paced the Terriers with 12.

Wittenberg-Wooster, quite possibly the best rivalry in NCAA Div. III basketball the last 25 years, will tip-off at 7:30 p.m., on Saturday.