Jalen Goodwin

The College of Wooster, which held steady at No. 14 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 for the third-straight poll, exploded out of the gates in gaining a 23-2 lead on Hiram College Wednesday night and rolled from there to an 85-60 victory during North Coast Athletic Conference action at Price Gymnasium in Hiram, Ohio.

With the win, plus Ohio Wesleyan University's 75-70 loss at Wabash College, Wooster (12-2, 6-1 NCAC) is now tied for first in the NCAC standings with Ohio Wesleyan (11-3, 6-1 NCAC), both one game ahead of third-place Wabash (10-4, 5-2 NCAC).

The Fighting Scots' early 23-2 spurt, included four 3-pointers – two by Jalen Goodwin and one each from Dan Fanelly and Spencer Williams – plus an old-fashioned three-point play courtesy of Xavier Brown on the offensive end. Defensively, they helped induce Hiram (8-6, 2-5 NCAC) into five turnovers as well as 1-for-11 field-goal shooting during that nine-minute period.

Shortly thereafter, Wooster added an 11-0 run to extend its advantage to 34-7, and the visitors eventually went into halftime with a 45-20 cushion.

The margin never got within 20 points during the second half.

Statistically, the Scots wound up with a .403 field-goal rate after missing their last eight shots, still well ahead of the Terriers' 32.9 percent, and the visitors won the rebounding battle 53-49. Wooster's 53 boards were the most since a game at the University of Sacred Heart (Puerto Rico) on Dec. 20, 2011.

Wooster's offensive attack was balanced as usual, with five players reaching double figures. Fanelly led the way with 17 points and 13 rebounds, marking his fourth double-double of the season, while Williams tossed in 14 points to go with five assists (zero turnovers).

Milt Davis, Alex LaLonde, and Evan Pannell added 11, 10, and 10 points, respectively, to the winning effort

Hiram did not have any players reach double-digits.

The Scots now will prepare for a visit from archrival Wittenberg University (4-10, 2-5 NCAC), coming off a momentum-building 65-56 overtime triumph over DePauw University, on Saturday night. Tip-off inside Timken Gymnasium is slated for 7:30 p.m.