The E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic is one of the oldest small college regular-season basketball tournaments.

Welcome back to the Scot Rewind, where WoosterAthletics.com is taking a look back at a big win, a monster individual performance, or a significant milestone corresponding with each week of the 2020-2021 academic year. This week is our special two-week holiday edition, and the rewind selected is the 2000 E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic, which featured three teams ranked in the top eight of D3hoops.com's Top 25 Poll. The following includes some background on the Mose Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic and highlights from the 2000 tournament.

The E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic has come to be regarded as one of the finest small college basketball tournaments in the nation, and it's also one of the oldest, with last year marking the 57th year of the tournament. Former head basketball coach and athletic director Al Van Wie created the tournament to honor Wooster's legendary coach and to give people in the community a chance to see the Scots' basketball team in action.

"Our old gym in Severance was so small that after you packed students and faculty into the facility, there was very little room for people in the community," he said. "We thought a holiday tournament would give fans in town a chance to see us play because the students would be away on break."

Van Wie's idea met with some resistance at first, but "the Dutchman" persisted and eventually got his way. The tournament was one of only three or four in the country at the time and Van Wie needed help to promote it. He approached The Daily Record's publisher, Ray Dix, and Wooster Radio general manager, Ted Evans, to help, and according to Van Wie, the two worked to make the tournament a smashing success.

"They took care of all of the publicity and really helped to get the ticket sales going," said Van Wie. "With their help, the event got off the ground, and the fact that it is still going years later is a tribute to their efforts."

Traditionally, the Mose Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic has always featured outstanding fields, however, the 2000 tournament stands above the rest. That group resembled a "Who's Who" of NCAA Div. III men's basketball. Second-ranked Wooster entered the Mose Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic with a 9-0 record and faced the pressure of trying to maintain its then-NCAA-leading 37-game active home winning streak. Third-ranked Calvin College – the defending Div. III national champion, eighth-ranked University of Chicago, and Case Western Reserve University rounded out the field. Wooster eased past CWRU 83-56 on night one of the tournament, which also included Chicago's 73-71 upset over Calvin.

In the championship game, Wooster came away as the victors, following a surprisingly easy 89-57 win against Chicago. By winning the 39th annual Mose Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic, the Scots equaled their best start in school history, and they won their first 11 games for the first time since the 1930 season. In addition, Wooster extended its NCAA-leading active home winning streak to 39 games (the school-record home winning streak was eventually snapped at 44 by archrival Wittenberg University on February 17, 2001), three better than Div. I Michigan State University's then-current string of 36 games.

In the title game, Chicago scored two of the first three buckets, however, those would be the Maroons' only leads of the contest, as Wooster slowly took control.

Down 4-3, Wooster edged ahead 25-18. Then, the Scots outscored the visitors 16-7 the rest of the half to go into the break with a comfortable 16-point lead.

Wooster continued to hold a 16-20-point advantage until 3:24 into the half when the Scots turned a 49-31 game into a 29-point lead by scoring 11-straight points.

Individually, Wooster was led by senior Nate Gaubatz, who was voted the tournament's MVP. He scored a game-high 21 points, dished out four assists, and made two steals in the championship game, following an 11-point, five-assist outing in the win over CWRU.

Fellow senior Steve Thompson was selected to the all-tournament team, following his season-high 20-point performance on 8-of-10 field goal shooting. Thompson, who connected on 4-of-5 three-point attempts, also had six rebounds and four assists on the evening.

Garnering the Defensive MVP award was Wooster junior Antwyan Reynolds, who contributed 12 points and a game-high eight assists to go along with his stellar defensive play in both contests.

Also playing well in the Chicago win were sophomore Matt Smith, who had 11 points, and sophomore Bryan Nelson, who was held to six points, but grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

For Chicago, sophomores Matt Bochenek and Derek Reich topped the team in points with 14 and 13, respectively. Reich and senior Brand Henderson, who totaled 23 points in the two-day event, were selected to the all-tournament team.

A note about Wooster's traditional home tournaments

Over 50 years ago, Wooster's basketball programs moved into spacious Timken Gymnasium, which recently underwent a $5 million renovation project. The facility has a capacity of 2,614, and the Scots are consistently among the men's basketball attendance leaders in NCAA Div. III. The Mose Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic helps support Goodwill Industries, as fans can gain half-price admission to the games with the donation of new or gently-worn clothing items. In November, the men's basketball program serves as host to the Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic, and that tournament supports People to People Ministries with a food drive at the games and throughout the local community leading up to the games. Additionally, Wooster's men's and women's basketball programs traditionally hold a youth skills clinic and a youth coaching clinic leading up to the Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic with food items or monetary donations for People to People Ministries collected as admission.

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