WOOSTER, Ohio – First-year Jamir Billings tied a 49-year-old school record, senior Brandon Styers dropped in a career-high 34 points, and The College of Wooster men's basketball team outscored Kenyon College 23-7 over the final 7:14, as the Fighting Scots held off the Lords' upset bid to win 91-77 on Wednesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.
Kenyon (2-12, 0-7 North Coast Athletic Conference), which had Wooster (9-4, 5-1 NCAC) on the ropes for much of the night, led for 25:41 of the contest, but the Scots kicked things into gear down the stretch, starting with Billings' game-tying driving layup at the 7:14 mark. Sophomore Elijah Meredith secured an offensive rebound on the next possession and his second-chance bucket gave Wooster the lead for good at the 6:44 mark. Kenyon was within one with 6:04 on the clock, but Styers' signature cutting lay-in turned old-fashion three-point play made it a two-possession game with 5:09 remaining. On that sequence, Styers hit the 30-point plateau for the second time in his career.
Billings stayed busy down the stretch, and his court vision, plus Wooster's team speed, enabled the Scots to pull away. The rookie sensation dished out five assists in the final 5:42. His helper with 4:35 remaining was number 10 on the night, making him just the fourth Scot to have two career games with at least 10 assists, and just the second to do so in the same season. Later, Styers sprung free for a dunk on Billings' 11th helper of the night, then Meredith beat the Lords down the floor for a fast-break layup. Billings had the assist on that bucket as well, giving him 12, a total tied with Mike Stoll for the most in program history, and the most in a game since the 1972-73 season.
Speed stood out as a decisive factor in Wooster's win, evidenced by a 16-0 dominance over Kenyon on fast-break points. Ten of those came during Wooster's 53-point second half, a stanza in which the Scots outscored the Lords by 25 and shot nearly 60 percent (20-of-34) in doing so.
Kenyon, to its credit, outplayed Wooster in the first half, taking a 49-38 lead into halftime. The Lords shot 52.6 percent (20-of-38) in the opening 20, but cooled off to 41.9 percent (13-of-31) in the second half, which included a 1-for-15 ledger on three-pointers.
Wooster's ramped-up defensive intensity was immediately evident at the onset of the second half. Billings came away with steals on two of Kenyon's first three possessions, then scored both times at the other end. The Scots' point guard scored on three straight possessions, hitting a triple on the third, then he found Styers for a fast-break layup at the 17:30 mark that pulled Wooster within 53-47.
Billings scored 17 points, all after halftime. He shot 6-of-14 for the game and added six rebounds and four steals to his line. Seven of Billings' 12 assists came in the final 20 minutes of action, as did three of his four steals.
Styers shot 14-of-19 for the game, and he scored 17 points in each half. The senior ended the night a rebound shy of a double-double and he chipped in defensively with three steals.
Meredith rounded out the Scots in double figures with 18 points, and like Billings, all of them came in the second half. Meredith's seven rebounds were all added to his Wednesday night line in the second half.
Wooster shot 51.5 percent (34-of-66), was 7-of-21 on three-pointers, and continued to light it up at the free throw line, this time going 16-of-19. The Scots won the rebounding battle 37-34 and had assists on 22-of-34 field goals.
Miles Vera led Keyon with 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting. David Maxon and Nick Lewis were the high men in rebounding for the Lords at seven.
Kenyon finished the night shooting 47.8 percent (33-of-69) from the floor, 8-of-34 on three-pointers, and went to the line just six times.
Next, Wooster's slated to host the 123rd meeting of one of small college basketball's greatest rivalries. That means Wittenberg University (5-6, 3-1 NCAC) is in town, with tipoff on Saturday, January 15 set for 7 p.m. Wooster fans are encouraged to wear white attire to the game.