SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Heart and hustle to win the battles for loose balls and another sizzling shooting night carried The College of Wooster men's basketball team to a seventh consecutive win over archrival Wittenberg University on Saturday night at Pam Evans Smith Arena. Wooster pulled away from, then held off Wittenberg, in the 80-70 victory.
Wooster's (15-8, 11-3 North Coast Athletic Conference) bench heavily impacted Saturday's outcome, especially in the first half. The Scots scored 20 bench points to the Tigers' (15-8, 9-5 NCAC) mere three. Nine of Wooster's came from sophomore Isaiah Johnson, who was 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Johnson's triple at 9:58 of the first half gave Wooster its first lead since the opening sequence. The guard hit again following senior Nick Everett swatting Wittenberg's Daniel Asher's shot out of the air, and the second triple made it 23-19 with the clock showing 9:15.
Wittenberg's Trey Killens had one last surge in him, tying the game at 25 on a three-pointer at 7:58, but it was all Wooster from there. Sophomore Vinni Veikalas broke the tie and gave Wooster the lead for good at 28-25, then blocked a Killens driving layup on the defensive end.
A 17-1 Wooster run after halftime was the decisive stretch. Wittenberg closed within 43-39, then scored just a single point over the ensuing 6:56. Wooster scored points on eight of its nine offensive possessions during the run. Sophomore EJ Kapihe's offensive rebound kept the high efficiency intact, and junior Ashton Price capitalized on the second chance with a three-pointer that made it 58-39 at the second half's 12:50 mark. Wooster's lead grew to 64-43 on a senior JJ Cline's free throw.
In typical archrivalry fashion, Wittenberg clawed its way back in and threatened late. The Tigers were within 70-61 once Killens got going again offensively. Free throws from Everett quickly pushed the lead back to double digits, where it remained for the duration.
Price's 24 points led Wooster and marked the junior's sixth 20-point game of the season. He was 5-of-8 from the floor and a perfect 10-of-10 at the charity stripe. Everett followed with 20 points and seven rebounds. The forward pushed the season shooting percentage north of 70 percent with a 7-of-8 night from the floor. Cline and Johnson scored nine points each, Roeder backed Everett up with six rebounds, and junior Jamir Billings steals counter climbed to 72, the third-most in single-season program history.
Wooster, which entered the weekend with the 10th-best field-goal percentage nationally, improved on the season average with a 58.1 percent (25-of-43) showing on Saturday. That brought the percentage over Wooster's last five games up to 57.8 (149-of-258). On Saturday, Wooster outrebounded Wittenberg 31-20.
Killens dropped in 32 points, but it took a 10-of-24 night from the floor and a 9-of-13 mark at the line to get there. Jeff Queen hit four three-pointers to account for the majority of his 15 points.
Wittenberg shot just 39.3 percent (24-of-61) and was worse at 29.6 percent (8-of-27) on three-pointers.
Wooster now leads the all-time series between NCAA Div. III's two winningest teams 68-60. The Scots' current winning streak is one shy of matching the longest in rivalry history.
Wooster, tied with Wabash College (15-8, 11-3 NCAC) for first-place in the NCAC with two games remaining, plays at Hiram College (2-21, 0-14 NCAC) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 14.