MARIETTA, Ohio – A 15-4 start to the second half propelled The College of Wooster to a decisive 84-59 victory over Misericordia University in first-round NCAA Div. III Men's Basketball Championship action at Marietta College's Ban Johnson Arena Friday evening.

Wooster (23-6) advances to the NCAA tourney's second round for the seventh consecutive season, and will face the winner of host Marietta and Medaille College on Saturday night.

Evan Pannell started the second half the same way he ended the first, connecting on a 3-pointer, and it sparked the aforementioned run as the Fighting Scots took a commanding 59-41 lead with 13:30 left.

Misericordia (21-7) crept back to within 15 points a couple of times, and it was a 66-50 margin around the midway point of the half when Wooster ran off 11 unanswered to put the game away (77-50).

The Scots' final total of 84 points was the most the Cougars gave up all season.

Xavier Brown looks to possibly work around a Josh Kipfer pick during the first half of the Scots' 25-point win. (photo courtesy Russell Kramer, North Coast Athletic Conference)

Alex LaLonde provided Wooster an early lift, hitting three of his first four 3-pointers, the third being part of its first 11-0 run, which lifted the Scots to a 22-12 lead at the 11:16 mark of the opening half.

Misericordia scored the next seven points to pull within three, then that mini-run was halted by another LaLonde 3-ball.

After Wooster pushed its lead back to double-digits again, including 37-27, the Cougars narrowed their deficit to four at 41-37. Pannell gave the Scots back the momentum by draining a 3-pointer from the left wing right before the halftime buzzer to make it 44-37.

Overall, Wooster was very efficient offensively, shooting 53.0 percent from the field (35-for-66), which included 6-of-12 3-pointers during the first half, and only turning the ball over six times. On the other end, the Scots limited Misericordia to a .339 rate from the floor (21-for-62).

Dan Fanelly, with 19 points and 10 rebounds, recorded his 10th double-double of the season, and fourth of the last six games, while LaLonde finished with 16 points – his highest scoring game since Jan. 10.

Also in double figures were Xavier Brown with 13 points on 6-of-8 field goals and Pannell with 10. Milt Davis and Josh Kipfer added significant contributions, each with eight points off of the bench, and the latter corralling eight boards as well.

The Cougars were paced by Joe Busacca, who tallied 11 of his 17 points in the first half.

Ticket Information: Ticket sales inside Ban Johnson Arena will begin at 3 p.m., for Saturday's NCAA second-round game, which tips off at 7 p.m.