DELAWARE, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's basketball team's rivalry with Ohio Wesleyan University returned to razor-close margins of victory, and the Fighting Scots prevailed in the latest one, 76-72, on Wednesday evening at Branch Rickey Arena.

Wooster's (11-8, 7-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) win, coupled with Oberlin College's (10-9, 4-6 NCAC) 77-67 victory over Wittenberg University (13-6, 7-3 NCAC), pulled the Scots into a tie for first-place in the conference with six games remaining. Four teams currently sit at 7-3 in the NCAC, with Denison University (11-8, 7-3 NCAC) and Wabash College (11-8, 7-3 NCAC) joining Wooster and Wittenberg as quad-leaders.

Sophomore Jaiden Cox-Holloway and senior JJ Cline extended Wooster's lead to two possessions at the charity stripe in the final 31 seconds of Wednesday's clash. Cline's free throws made it 75-71 with 14.3 seconds remaining, then Ohio Wesleyan's (7-12, 4-6 NCAC) Jessee Battle missed a free throw, keeping Wooster's lead at three inside the final 10 seconds. Wooster junior Jamir Billings upped the lead to four before Ohio Wesleyan's late three-pointer was offline.

Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan were in a dogfight down the stretch, with the teams combining for 10 lead changes in the final 14:19. Neither team led by more than five during that span.

Cline cleaned up a Wooster miss for the go-ahead layup with 3:57 remaining. Junior Ashton Price's baseline drive upped the lead to 63-60 on the next possession. In fact, Wooster scored at least one point on each of its final 15 possessions, thanks in part to sophomore EJ Kapihe's two offensive rebounds, which led directly to four second-chance points. Not long after Kapihe's rebounds, Cline filled the empty space on the floor following Cox-Holloway's drive, and that enabled the Scots' senior to hit an open triple that made it 66-62 with 2:36 showing on the clock.

In the first half, Cline's window-bank floater fell at the 5:33 mark, and the two points were the first by either team in a 5:07 span. The floater fueled Cline, who hit from range on the next possession, and later had Wooster up 33-22 with 3:04 remaining before halftime after a second triple. Ohio Wesleyan was within 33-29 at halftime.

Cline, who turned in his strongest collegiate performance with a career-high 20 points, six rebounds, and six assists, shot 7-of-9, which included a 3-of-5 mark from deep. His six assists doubled the previous career-high. Price backed Cline's first 20-point game up with 14 points, while senior Nick Everett chipped in with 11. Billings, Cox-Holloway, Cline, and Everett all had six rebounds.

Wooster's 61.4 percent (27-of-44) field-goal percentage marked the team's second time shooting above 61 percent in a game this year.

Hinkle bounced back from an uncharacteristic performance when the teams met earlier this season with a game-high 22 points. Tony Carter dropped 19 in the scoring column and was one of two Battling Bishops with four rebounds.

Ohio Wesleyan shot 27-of-59 (45.8 percent) and was able to negate Wooster's exceptional field-goal percentage by having seven fewer turnovers than the Scots and making five more three-pointers.

The four-point margin of victory is the ninth between the NCAC rivals over the last 18 meetings.

Next, Wooster hosts DePauw University (11-8, 6-4 NCAC) at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27. Following the game, Wooster will formally dedicate Steve Moore Court at Timken Gymnasium.