Wooster Holds Off OWU, 74-69

WOOSTER, Ohio – Sophomore Elijah Meredith's early offensive barrage sparked The College of Wooster men's basketball team, then the Fighting Scots held off Ohio Wesleyan University's comeback bid to win 74-69 on Saturday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

Meredith dropped in 12 of Wooster's (15-6, 11-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) first 14 points, and the forward's dozen came in a tidy 2:16. A second-chance jumper following sophomore Carter Warstler's offensive rebound started the offensive blitz, and Meredith hit the go-ahead triple at the 16:19 mark. On the next possession, Meredith continued to be dialed in from range, with that triple making it at 14-10 game at the 15:57 mark. Meredith's turnaround jumper at 14:35 capped an early 10-0 Wooster run.

Ohio Wesleyan (13-8, 10-4 NCAC) is a team within the NCAC known for lighting the scoreboard up with three-pointers in a hurry, yet it was Wooster doing just that near the first half's midpoint. First-year Jamir Billings' triple fell through with the scoreboard showing 13:15, and senior Hamilton Johnson connected from the corner about a minute later. Next, Billings hit from range again, upping Wooster's lead to 27-16 with 11:30 to go, and the Scots' advantage grew to 33-16 when Billings for junior Turner Kurt on the fast break. Wooster went into halftime up 41-29.

Wooster grew its lead back to 14 a couple times in the final eight minutes of play. Sophomore JJ Cline snuck a second-chance bucket in through traffic to make it 64-53 at the 7:20 mark, and Kurt later capped the 5-0 stretch at the charity stripe. In between, Billings deflected a Henry Hinkle pass, tracked down the loose ball, and converted the uncontested fast-break layup.

Jack Clement beat Wooster in transition for a fast-break bucket of his own to pull Ohio Wesleyan within 69-64 with just outside a minute left on the clock. Next, Wooster handled Ohio Wesleyan's press leading to a wide-open dunk for Meredith. Zane Ries reached in and bumped Meredith resulting in an old-fashion three-point play that upped Wooster's lead to 72-64. Meredith went on to secure the game-clinching rebound inside the final five seconds.

Meredith led all Scots with 19 points, and his eight rebounds were tops among Wooster's contingent. Billings was next in the scoring column at 16. He finished the night with six assists, and is now seventh on the program's single-season leaderboard at 126. Senior Najee Hardaway and Kurt scored 13 apiece.

Wooster shot 43.5 percent (30-of-69) and logged 38 points in the paint to Ohio Wesleyan's 28.

Hinkle matched Meredith in the scoring column, Clement was right behind at 18 points, and Grant Spicer secured 10 rebounds to pair with three blocked shots.

Ohio Wesleyan shot 45.9 percent (28-of-61) and was just 8-of-27 (29.6 percent) on three-pointers.

With the win, Wooster is now in sole possession of second-place in the NCAC, while Ohio Wesleyan falls to third. Eight of the last 14 games in the series have been decided by five or fewer points.

Next, Wooster's off to Allegheny College (6-10, 4-6 NCAC) for an 8 p.m. game on Tuesday, February 8.

Photo by Abbi Tarburton '22