Evan Pannell

A late rally brought The College of Wooster within one possession of DePauw University with 10.7 seconds remaining, then the Tigers' Frank Patton III made the second of two free throws to clinch a 78-74 win over the No. 2 ranked Fighting Scots during a Saturday afternoon tilt at Greencastle, Ind.

While it may seem like an upset due to the national ranking, it actually marks the third-straight season Wooster has lost at DePauw, and of most importance, it tightens the North Coast Athletic Conference standings. The Scots (15-2, 9-1 NCAC) remain in first-place, though now just a game ahead of DePauw (13-4, 8-2 NCAC) as well as Ohio Wesleyan University (14-3, 8-2 NCAC) and Wittenberg University (14-3, 8-2 NCAC).

The Tigers led 37-35 at halftime on Michael Wilkinson's long-distance 3-pointer at the buzzer, then they outscored the Scots 12-5 the opening five-plus minutes of the second half to gain a nine-point edge (49-40).

Wooster, which never fell behind by double figures, proceeded to pull within one possession on a series of occasions – 52-49, 55-52, 57-55, and 77-74 – but DePauw had an answer each time. The key stretch may have come after the Scots trimmed it two, as the Tigers responded with 3-of-4 free throws and a lay-up to push their lead back to seven with a little more than five minutes left.

It remained a five-to-eight point spread until the final 20 seconds when Evan Pannell and Doug Thorpe dropped in 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, the second making it a 77-74 game.

The first half featured 13 lead changes and seven ties, and neither squad led by more than four.

Looking at the final numbers, it's hard to believe that Wooster was even in the game late. DePauw made 55.6 percent of its shots from the field (25-for-45) and 7-of-11 3-pointers (.636), and the Tigers outrebounded the Scots by 20 (37-17).

Wooster's defense, though, helped force 15 turnovers, compared to just six on the offensive end.

Thorpe paced the Scots with 22 points, Xavier Brown had 17, Pannell 12, and Kenny DeBoer 11.

Wilkinson scored a game-high 23 points, which included 5-of-7 3-pointers, while Tommy Fernitz was a match-up problem in the middle as he tallied 19 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocked shots. Patton added a career-high 14 points.

Wooster faces another challenge on Wednesday night, when No. 19 ranked Ohio Wesleyan visits Timken Gymnasium at 8 p.m.