Kenny DeBoer

WOOSTER, Ohio – During an up-and-down second half, The College of Wooster bounced back from a 57-54 deficit with 11 unanswered points, a run that proved to be the difference in the No. 5 ranked Fighting Scots' 75-68 North Coast Athletic Conference win against Wabash College on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (16-3, 10-2 NCAC), which remains tied for first in the NCAC, owned a 15-point lead during the opening minute of the second half, then Wabash (5-13, 4-8 NCAC) got red hot, making 13-of-18 field goals (.722) during an extended stretch of the second. That resulted in an 18-point swing on the scoreboard, with a Gary Ulrich 3-pointer giving the Little Giants the aforementioned three-point edge with six minutes remaining.

Evan Pannell stepped up for the Scots, knocking down 3-pointers, both assisted by Xavier Brown, on their next two possessions to retake the lead, and Doug Thorpe connected on one from beyond the arc, following two offensive rebounds, to make it a two-possession game (63-57).

After a third consecutive defensive stop, Josh Kipfer was fouled while controlling the rebound and he dropped in both ends of a one-and-one, as Wooster went ahead 65-57 at the 3:19 mark.

Wabash accounted for the next three points, all on free throws, and the Scots answered when Brown found Kenny DeBoer for an open 3-pointer and the senior forward hit it for a 68-60 lead with 2:08 left.

Brown added a couple of free throws with 1:25 on the clock for a double-digit cushion (70-60), and the Little Giants didn't get the margin any closer than six the last minute.

Wooster had seemingly been in control, as an early 13-0 run put the hosts up 15-5 on their way to a 36-23 halftime advantage.

It was 38-23 after the first two possessions of the second half, but shortly thereafter, Wabash strung together an 11-0 stretch, and the outcome remained in doubt until late.

Statistically, the two teams made an identical number of field goals (25) and 3-pointers (10), however, the Scots were more effective getting to the free throw line, hitting 15-of-18 (.833), compared to 8-of-10 for the visitors.

The biggest difference, though, was turnovers. Wooster's defense came up with 12 steals on 14 Little Giant turnovers, and committed just eight itself.

Thorpe scored a game-high 20 points, his fourth-straight 20-point game, while DeBoer, coming off his second career double-double on Wednesday, came through again with a season-high 18 points.

Brown contributed 15 points and a career-high seven assists, and Pannell produced 13 points, his fifth double figure game out of the last eight.

Ross Sponsler led Wabash with 13 points.

Wooster caps a three-game homestand on Wednesday against Kenyon College (9-9, 6-5 NCAC), with tip-off slated for 8 p.m.