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Wooster Dominates Saint Vincent, 91-53, in NCAA Tourney Rematch

WOOSTER, Ohio – In a rematch of a 2014 NCAA Div. III Championship first-round game, also played at Timken Gymnasium, No. 10 ranked College of Wooster put forth a dominating performance against Saint Vincent College Saturday evening as the Fighting Scots led wire-to-wire during a 91-53 victory in the second game of the 21st annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic.

Wooster, now 3-0 after playing three teams that were preseason favorites in their respective conferences, edged Saint Vincent 76-67 in last year's closely-contested NCAA opener, but on Saturday, it was all Scots right from the opening moments.

With Xavier Brown leading the way, Wooster gained an early 21-11 lead as the senior point guard connected on pair of 3-pointers, finished two fast-break lay-ups, and assisted on a pair of other scores within the opening seven minutes.

The Scots' double-digit advantage held up the rest of the way. They extended it to 20 for the first time at 43-23 late in the first half, and the score was 49-27 at the break.

Saint Vincent (1-3) had a 9-2 run early in the second to pull within 53-36, but that was as close as it would get.

Just a bit later, Wooster constructed an 11-1 stretch for a 66-39 cushion, and cruised from there.

Xavier Brown
Wooster's Xavier Brown drives to the basket for two of his 21 points on Saturday evening.

The statistics demonstrate how dominant the Scots were. They made more than 50 percent of their field-goal attempts (.538; 35-for-65) and limited the Bearcats to under 30 percent (.279; 17-for-61). Wooster, which made 9-of-18 from 3-point range, was credited with 20 assists on the 35 field goals, compared to just five turnovers.

Several Scots reached career highs, including Dan Fanelly, who was four assists shy of a triple-double. His 25 points, which included making all three 3-point attempts, were nine more than the previous best for the sophomore forward. Fanelly added 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double, while his six assists were a career best.

Brown was 8-of-11 from the field on his way to 21 points and Milt Davis chipped in 10 off of the bench, while Evan Pannell ripped down a career-high 13 rebounds.

Sean Kett led Saint Vincent with an even dozen markers in the scorebook.

The Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic will conclude on Sunday with a neutral-site game between the University of Mount Union and Saint Vincent, tipping off at 2 p.m. The all-tourney team will be announced following that contest.