Scots Keep Yeomen Under 50 in Win

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster yielded just 48 points in Wednesday evening's 62-48 win over Oberlin College at Timken Gymnasium, marking the first time the Fighting Scots kept a team under 50 since downing Hanover College 57-47 on the road on November 20, 2018.

Oberlin (4-9, 0-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) struggled against Wooster's (10-2, 4-0 NCAC) length and heavy-contest defense. The Yeomen were just 18-of-48 (37.5 percent) from the floor and 4-of-22 from range. At the other end, Oberlin elected to double down on 6-8 senior Turner Kurt and 6-8 junior Nick Everett in the second half, and that helped open the breathing room Wooster needed to pull away.

Sophomore Jamir Billings, whose polished line included game-leading 14 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, and six steals, hit a triple at the 9:09 mark to start Wooster's pull-away 10-0 run. Consecutive offensive rebounds from juniors Carter Warstler and JJ Cline led to senior Najee Hardaway driving to the rim for the third-chance bucket, then Billings was on the mark again from range after a give-and-shoot feed from Kurt. Cline's layup following Kurt's dump down upped Wooster's lead to 53-38, and the Scots were up by as many as 17 down the stretch.

Billings built his line to five points, four rebounds, four assists, and four steals by the half, and he was supported heavily by Everett, who was a perfect 4-of-4 from the floor with four rebounds in 12 minutes of first-half action. In fact, Everett was the go-to Scot for two of Billings' first-half assists, while an offensive rebound by the Scots' big accounted for a third bucket. The Scots' lightning-quick guard picked off a Dimitrije Radusinovic pass for his fourth steal immediately following Everett's fourth bucket of the night.

Billings led first-year Vinni Veikalas down the floor for a fast-break bucket at the first stanza's 11:10 mark, and that went in the books as the go-ahead score at 14-12. Wooster's lead grew to 23-14 when Cline hit a pair of free throws with 3:40 showing on the clock, and Billings' three-ball at the 2:17 mark made it 26-16. Oberlin responded with a 9-2 run to close within 28-25 at the half.

Everett finished with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting and he added five rebounds. Hardaway went 6-of-12 from the floor to finish with 12 points, and he backed Billings up with three assists, a total matched by Kurt. Of note, Billings' six steals marked a season-high, and the sophomore now has four games with at least that many.

Wooster shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) for the game and forced the Yeomen into 23 turnovers.

Radusinovic and Dorde Otasevic scored 14 apiece for Oberlin.

Next, Wooster is off to Wabash College (10-3, 3-1 NCAC) for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, January 7.