WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's basketball team authored another stunning finish, this time rallying back from a 13-point deficit with a game-closing 19-0 run, and the Fighting Scots did not allow a point over the final 6:16 in Wednesday evening's 69-63 win over Oberlin College at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster (13-4, 9-1 North Coast Athletic Conference), which maintained a half game lead over Wabash College (13-3, 8-1 NCAC) atop the conference standings, was dealt a 63-50 deficit on Wolf Moser's old-fashion three-point play at the 6:16 mark. Sophomore Carter Warstler sparked the game-closing surge with one of his game-high four offensive rebounds. That led to senior Brandon Styers dropping in three of Wooster's 17 second-chance points at the 5:55 mark, then first-year Jamir Billings trimmed the deficit to single digits with a steal and fast-break layup.
After Wooster was within a possession, Styers denied Oberlin's (5-12, 3-8 NCAC) Anastasis Spyroglou from getting across midcourt, and that resulted in a 10-second violation. The Scots chip-away attack continued from there, with Billings passing out assist six on the night to junior Turner Kurt, whose layup made it a 63-62 game with 1:58 remaining. Kurt was fouled on the next offensive possession, tied the game with his first free throw with 1:12 remaining, then got the friendly bounce for the go-ahead point.
Kurt was seemingly the center of attention over the final 72 seconds, as he wrestled down a defensive rebound and maintained possession long enough for a jump ball to get called. Then, with under 30 seconds to go, he set a screen for Billings, rolled to the hoop, caught the entry pass, mustered up a layup, and finished the old-school three-point play to give the Scots a 67-63 lead. At the other end, Spyroglou was off the mark on the front end of a one-and-one, and senior Najee Hardaway iced the game with a rebound and two free throws in the final 10 seconds.
Warstler's stick-back at the first half's 10:11 mark started an 8-0 run for the Scots. Sophomore Elijah Meredith capped it by beating the Yeomen down the floor for a fast-break lay-in with 8:09 remaining, and that bucket bumped Wooster's lead to 24-23. The Scots led by as many as six down the first half's closing stretch, then Oberlin went on a 5-0 run just before halftime to pull within 34-33.
Kurt's 22 points led all scorers. He went 8-of-12 from the floor and 5-of-5 from the line. The forward was one of three players in the game with eight rebounds. Hardaway backed that up with 20 points, and he was also 5-of-5 at the charity stripe. Warstler provided the energy on both ends with a career-high eight rebounds and three steals. Billings matched Warstler with three steals and he dished out a game-best seven assists.
Wooster shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) for the game, was 14-of-15 at the line, and had a 17-4 edge on second-chance points. The Scots won the rebounding battle 35-29.
Dorde Otasevic's 18 points and eight rebounds were both highs within Oberlin's squad. Spyroglou had the high total in assists at four, as did Moser in steals. Moser accounted for 14 points on the stat sheet.
Oberlin shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53), went 7-of-10 at the line, and had 15 turnovers.
Of note, Wednesday marked the second massive game-closing run of the year for the Scots. Wooster previously closed out Ripon College with a 23-3 run in an 83-71 win on November 20.
Next, Wooster's at Hiram College (6-10, 3-7 NCAC) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, January 28. Hiram spectators are limited to Hiram students, Hiram faculty, and Hiram staff. Outside spectators, including parents, are not permitted.
photo by Abbi Tarburton '22