Spencer Williams

A last-second shot following a coast-to-coast drive by Spencer Williams fell off the rim, as The College of Wooster suffered a 70-69 setback Wednesday night at North Coast Athletic Conference foe Hiram College, ending the Fighting Scots' remarkable 36-game winning streak in the teams' series.

Despite the loss, Wooster (16-6, 12-3 NCAC) remains tied with Ohio Wesleyan University atop the conference standings, with the latter also having been upset on Wednesday night. There are three regular season games remaining to determine the NCAC champion.

Ahead 63-54, the Scots held their largest lead of the game with a little over 5:00 left, however, a pair of 3-pointers by Hiram (14-6, 10-5 NCAC) less than 30 seconds apart quickly made it a three-point game.

Wooster's offense stayed cold, and the Terriers evened the score two possessions later on an Austen Rekolt 3-ball, then a J.J. Woodson put-back gave the home team a 65-63 advantage.

Reece Dupler hit a pull-up jumper in the lane to tie it for the Scots, only to see Paul Ortiz account for four points on the ensuing possession, thanks in part to an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw.

Using a nice screen, Williams got a free path to the basket and converted a lay-in to pull Wooster within 69-67 at the 1:04 mark. After a defensive stop, the Scots almost tied it as a Mitch Balser lay-up rolled around the rim and out.

Forced to foul at that point, Rekolt went to the free throw line with 12.3 seconds remaining and dropped in the first. He never got to attempt the second free throw due to a lane violation, which gave Wooster a chance.

Balser raced up court, drew a foul, and made both free throws to cut it to a one-point deficit with 6.9 seconds left.

Again the Scots fouled, this time sending Ortiz to the line with 5.9 on the clock. He missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, Alex LaLonde rebounded it and quickly found Williams, who sprinted to the middle of the court and had a quality, but hurried look barely miss, which allowed Hiram to celebrate its first victory over Wooster since Dec. 2, 1992.

Prior to the wild ending, the contest had featured a series of runs. The Terriers gained a 12-4 advantage at the outset, and later in the first half, the Scots turned a 20-10 deficit into a 20-20 tie. Wooster also closed the half on a mini 7-2 run for a 32-29 advantage.

During the second, Hiram put together a 15-2 stretch to go from down 38-31 to up 46-40, then the Scots re-took the momentum by outscoring their hosts 21-6 for the first of their nine-point leads (61-52).

Statistically, Wooster shot under 40 percent from the field (.394; 26-for-66) for the first time since Dec. 30 and was also hurt offensively by 18 turnovers, and while the Terriers shot similarly (.375; 30-for-80), their 24 offensive rebounds helped extend a number of possessions.

Williams notched his third 20-point game of the season with an even 20, Dupler and Dan Fanelly each contributed 10 points, and Balser had a solid all-around effort of seven points, nine boards, and five assists.

Ortiz paced Hiram with 19 points and Ray Gaston notched a double-double (11 points, 16 rebounds).

The Scots will attempt to quickly shake off the loss, as they welcome archrival Wittenberg University (14-8, 9-6 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.