Junior Brandon Styers finished a rebound shy of a double-double, sophomore Tayler McNeal matched him in the scoring column with 19 points, and the Fighting Scots limited the opposition to a season-low 36.1 field-goal percentage during Friday night's 72-59 win over visiting Denison University at Timken Gymnasium.

Freshman Elijah Meredith sparked Wooster's (2-2) decisive stretch with a three-ball at the 15:31 mark of the second half, and the Scots never relinquished the lead from there. Meredith kept adding fuel to an 11-2 run with a steal and pass ahead to junior Najee Hardaway, who capped the fast-break with a layup. Later, Meredith's hook shot fell, as Wooster opened up a 54-49 lead with 13:01 to go. Wooster wasn't done just yet, as freshman Carter Warstler drew an illegal screen call, and then found an open Hardaway, who capped the run with a three-ball, as Wooster's lead ballooned to 57-49.

Junior Hamilton Johnson had five points and five rebounds in Friday night's win. Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22.

Wooster, which stayed on top by at least six down the stretch, extended its lead to double digits with a 7-0 stretch that started with junior Hamilton Johnson's jumper from just outside the paint. Styers, who corralled his career-high eighth rebound not long after, cashed in at the charity stripe after getting fouled underneath Denison's (3-3) hoop, and McNeal's stick-back upped the ante to 67-55 with 7:02 remaining.

The first half, which featured six lead changes and two ties, saw Denison lead by as many as eight, and the Big Red carried a 37-36 lead into halftime. Styers did his part to help Wooster's efforts, as a pair of driving layups, the second of which resulted in an old-fashion three-point play, actually put Wooster up 34-30 with 2:34 to go in the opening half. Meredith came up with his first of two steals on Denison's ensuing possession, and he found freshman JJ Cline open underneath the rim for an easy lay-in.

Styers' 19 points came on 6-of-9 shooting, and he was a perfect 5-of-5 at the charity stripe. Of Styers' nine rebounds, eight came on the defensive end.

Other stats of note included Hardaway's 13 points and Warstler's four assists.

Wooster, which entered the day as the only NCAA Div. III team in the top five nationally in scoring, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage, and free throw percentage, cooled off some in the first three categories, as the Scots finished at 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the floor and 38.9 percent (7-of-18) from range. However, the Scots were an electric 15-of-17 at the free throw line. Wooster also won the battle on the boards 38-35.

John Faller's 13 points led a quartet of Big Red in double figures, while Conor Fenton's 11 boards were tops on the night.

Denison went 22-of-61 from the floor, which included a 6-of-30 ledger from three-point land.

The same two teams are set to tangle on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Denison. No spectators are permitted, so please catch the game on Denison's livestream.