CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana – The College of Wooster men's basketball team typically plays its best basketball at the right time, and Friday afternoon was the latest example of that, with the Fighting Scots taking care of DePauw University 75-59 in the semifinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Wabash College's Chadwick Court.
Wooster (19-8) advances to Saturday's 4 p.m. championship game at Chadwick Court, where the Scots will play the winner of the Wabash (22-3)-Denison University (13-12) semifinal game that tipped at 7:30 p.m. The Scots will play in the championship game for the 23rd time in the last 25 years and the 28th time in the 37 years the NCAC Tournament has been held.
Wooster's 13-2 second-half run all but put the game out of reach for DePauw (11-14). Sophomore Elijah Meredith's bucket capped the stretch, and put Wooster up by a game-high 20 points at 60-40 with 9:34 to go. Wooster's strong interior presence was too big of a factor for DePauw to overcome, with each key stretch featuring a wealth of contributions from the Scots' big men. Elsewhere in the 13-2 stretch, sophomore Nick Everett made a stick back and blocked a shot, junior Turner Kurt sank two free throws, and Meredith powered his way inside for a bucket.
Nolan Niego's jumper following a Wooster turnover pulled DePauw within 11 with 1:28 left, but Kurt iced the game with two free throws. Ronald Johnson was off the mark with his triple, leading to another DePauw foul, and senior Brandon Styers was money at the stripe, upping the lead to 71-56 just inside the final minute.
Wooster's interior play dominated the stat sheet near the end of the first half. Meredith's finger roll went down with 3:40 left in the opening stanza, and that bucket upped the Scots' lead to 27-24. Next, Everett denied Niego at the rim, and Styers chased down DePauw's second-chance miss in the corner. At the other end, first-year Jamir Billings' lob pass made its way to Everett, who finished at the rim. Then, with all DePauw's attention on the big men, Billings knocked down a triple that upped Wooster's lead to 32-24 at the 1:45 mark. Everett scored four more points, two off a roll to the hoop and two at the line, and logged his second steal of the night before Niego's triple pulled DePauw within 36-30 at the half.
Senior Khaylen Mahdi cut inside with 11:04 left in the opening half, and sophomore JJ Cline found the open Scot for the go-ahead bucket. Later, Wooster found its mark from range, as Billings' three-ball upped Wooster's lead to 32-24 at the 1:45 mark of the first half.
Styers' 19 points led a quartet of Scots in double figures in the scoring column. The biology major made 7-of-11 field goals and was a perfect 3-of-3 at the line. Meredith followed with 17 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while Kurt and Everett combined for 21 points. Billings passed out five assists, giving him 159 on the year, a total still second on the program's single-season leaderboard. Everett's seven rebounds helped Wooster to a 33-29 edge on the glass.
Wooster shot 53.8 percent (28-of-52) for the game, and the Scots have now been above 50 percent in three consecutive games for the first time this season. The Scots went 13-of-15 at the line and only had eight turnovers.
DePauw's Elijah Hales scored a team-high 13 points, but the Tigers' leading scorer needed 17 shots to get there. He was 5-of-17 from the floor, and just 3-of-11 on three-pointers. The Tigers shot just 40.0 percent (24-of-60) for the game.
Friday's game marked the finale of Bill Fenlon's career. He led DePauw to 480 wins over 30 seasons.