Wabash Downs Wooster, Wins First NCAC Title

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's basketball team nearly rallied back from a 19-point deficit before Wabash College ran away from the Fighting Scots 97-75 on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium. The Little Giants secured their first-ever North Coast Athletic Conference championship with the win and locked up the one seed for the upcoming conference tournament.

Wooster (15-8, 11-5 NCAC) was handcuffed by two things in particular on Saturday – torrid three-point shooting by Wabash (19-3, 14-1 NCAC) and a run of missed opportunities at the charity stripe. Wabash, winners of 15 straight, hit 18 triples, 11 of which were knocked down by seniors Tyler Watson and Jack Davidson. Wooster was just 6-of-18 at the line in the second half, missed the front end of all three 1-and-1 opportunities, and had a stretch of six consecutive missed free throws overall.

The Scots did almost overcome a 48-29 first-half deficit, and the comeback bid started before halftime. Junior Tayler McNeal dropped a pass down low to sophomore Nick Everett, who upped his first-half point haul to 11 with 1:13 remaining. Then, Everett and junior Turner Kurt worked the two-man game, with Kurt's bucket trimming Wabash's lead to 48-33 at the half.

In the second stanza, first-year Jamir Billings found sophomore Carter Warstler at the start of a cut to the hoop, and the Scots' guard finished the layup at the 16:27 mark. Then, with 13:38 remaining, Warstler hit a pair of free throws, the second of which made it a 53-51 game, and marked the final point of Wooster's 11-0 run. Kurt helped the cause during the run with three layups, and defensively, he stuffed Edreece Redmond at the rim.

Davidson, Wabash's star, immediately canned a three-pointer after Warstler's pair at the line. Later, Watson erupted for 11 points in a span of four possessions, with his third triple of that stretch extending Wabash's lead to 72-55 at the 9:30 mark.

Senior Hamilton Johnson's three-ball with 6:12 to go and Warstler's old-school three-point play at the 5:20 mark had Wooster within nine, but each time Davidson promptly stretched the lead back to 12 via a three-pointer.

Billings and Kurt scored 14 apiece to lead Wooster. Kurt's nine rebounds marked the game-high, as did Billings' seven assists. Billings surpassed 140 assists on the year and moved into a tie with Wooster great Antwyan Reynolds atop the program's single-season steals leaderboard at 75. Billings had one steal on the afternoon.

Wooster shot 44.6 percent (29-of-65) from the floor, 26.9 percent (7-of-26) on three-pointers, and 41.7 percent (10-of-24) at the line. The Scots did win the rebounding battle 38-37.

Watson had his second straight 30-point game when playing at Timken Gymnasium. The Little Giants' guard went 10-of-15 from the floor, which included a 6-of-10 showing from downtown. He also had five assists, as did Davidson. Davidson scored 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He led all players on the day with three steals.

Wabash shot 50.8 percent (33-of-65) from the floor, 47.4 percent (18-of-38) on three-pointers, and only missed one free throw in 14 chances.

Prior to the game, Wooster honored its seniors planning on graduating this spring. They are Johnson, Khaylen Mahdi, Brandon Styers, and student assistant Alec Williams.

Next, Wooster hosts Denison University (10-11, 9-6 NCAC) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 16.