Junior Brandon Styers erupted for a career-high 30 points on 12-of-14 shooting, all five starters scored at least 12 points, and Doug Cline officially won his first game as head coach of the program he once starred for, as the Fighting Scots held off visiting Wabash College 106-101 on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

The second half featured three exciting runs, as Wooster (1-2) was on the verge of pulling away from Wabash (3-4) each time, only to have the Little Giants answer back. The third, which started on Styers' lay-in with 2:02 remaining, upped Wooster's lead to 92-89. From there, Wabash's Tyler Watson was off the mark on a three-point try, while Wooster's Tayler McNeal was spot on with his try, as the sophomore upped the Scots' lead to 95-86 with 1:29 remaining. Next, Styers drew a key loose-ball foul on Wabash standout Kellen Schreiber, who fouled out of the game as a result, and junior Hamilton Johnson wasted no time capping the 7-0 swing with a driving lay-in.

Wabash's Cam Chadd buried a three-ball on the fast-break to make it a three-point game with eight ticks left. However, Styers sprung free on the press break long enough to secure a lengthy entry pass, and he was on point at the charity stripe to cap off his career afternoon and the game's scoring.

Junior Brandon Styers scored a career-high 30 points on 12-of-14 shooting. He also matched his career-best with seven rebounds. Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22.

Earlier in the second half, Watson's pull-up jumper pulled the Little Giants within one at 58-57 with 15:25 to go. Wooster answered with a 7-0 stretch, during which the Scots had a key steal and taken charge by McNeal, plus blocked shots on back-to-back Wabash possessions by McNeal and freshman Aaron Whitehead. Styers' three-ball capped the run with Wooster on top 65-57 at the 13:50 mark.

Later, Schreiber's turnaround jumper fell, and that tied the game at 79 with 7:19 remaining. Junior Najee Hardaway answered right back with a floating jumper and a steal, as Wooster went on a 9-0 run that was capped by Styers' three-pointer that made it 88-79 with 5:00 left.

In the first half, Wooster rallied back over the final 7:17, turning an 11-point deficit into a 46-44 lead at the break. McNeal and Johnson book-ended an 8-0 stretch with three-pointers, while Styers had a key steal and fast-break lay-in sandwiched in between.

Freshman Eric Mudd, who was making his first collegiate start, took charge down low with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. His efforts defensively played a large factor in Schreiber only corralling two boards, over five below his per-game average coming into play.

Hardaway's all-around afternoon culminated in 12 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and four steals. Of note, his eight assists are the most by a Scot since Dan Fanelly's nine at Allegheny College on January 11, 2017.

Styers backed his career day in the scoring column up with a co-career-best seven boards, while Johnson's 17 points marked a new career-best.

McNeal rounded out Wooster's starting five, and he dropped 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a 3-of-4 mark from range.

Wooster shot 53.8 percent (35-of-65) for the game, was a remarkable 28-of-33 at the charity stripe, and had a 34-26 edge on the boards. Of note, Wooster logged 60 points in the second half, marking the program's highest output after halftime in a non-overtime game since the Scots scored 61 at Anderson University on December 20, 2010.

Watson's 34 points led all scorers, while Schreiber chipped in with 18. Reis Thomas was the high man in the rebounding department for Wabash with eight, while Connor Rotterman passed out six assists.

Next Wooster hosts Denison University (3-2) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 25.