Alex LaLonde

In its second top-25 match-up of the week, and third in six games this season, No. 10 ranked College of Wooster never trailed and pulled away late to a 76-63 North Coast Athletic Conference victory against No. 18 DePauw University Saturday afternoon at Greencastle, Ind.

It marked Wooster's first win at DePauw since the Tigers came into the NCAC four years ago, as the Fighting Scots had been 0-3 in Greencastle, compared to 19-3 in other road conference games during the same stretch.

On Saturday, Wooster (4-2, 1-1 NCAC) opened up an 8-2 lead early on, but the rest of the opening half was close, including ties of 23-23 and 29-29. After the latter, the Scots went on a mini 7-0 run, keyed by forcing three turnovers during four series on the defensive end, and they eventually took a 43-35 advantage into halftime.

The margin stayed between 6-to-10 points through the first 10 minutes of the second half, then DePauw (4-2, 0-2 NCAC) made its biggest push of the game with six unanswered points to pull within 55-51.

It remained a two- or three-possession game until late, including 62-57 around the three-minute mark. At that juncture, Wooster's Spencer Williams knocked down a big shot, nailing a 3-pointer, assisted by Xavier Brown, for an eight-point advantage.

The Tigers got it back to within six during their offensive set before Evan Pannell earned a trip to the free throw line and buried both shots for a 67-59 cushion at the 2:02 mark.

Next, Alex LaLonde blocked a DePauw 3-point attempt and the Scots closed out the win by sinking 9-of-10 free throws over the final 1:40.

Wooster outshot DePauw by a significant margin, 51.1 percent from the field (23-for-45) to 35.2 percent (19-for-54), and owned a 32-29 rebounding edge, but it stayed close throughout due to 17 turnovers.

The Scots' traditionally balanced scoring attack was in full effect as five reached double figures, paced by Dan Fanelly, who overcame foul trouble to score 17 points in 18 minutes. Brown and Josh Kipfer accounted for 13 points apiece, with the former contributing a game-high four assists as well.

LaLonde netted a career-best 11 points plus eight rebounds and two blocks, while Jalen Goodwin added 11 points on a near-perfect shooting day (3-for-4 field goals, 4-for-4 free throws).

The Tigers' Tommy Fernitz pumped in 18 points to lead all scorers.

This week Wooster has final exams, then will host Wabash College (5-1, 2-0 NCAC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.