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| Senior Tom Port holds up the NCAC trophy, surrounded by his
teammates, after Wooster's 86-51 win over Ohio Wesleyan. |
WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster was clicking on all
cylinders during the championship game of the North Coast Athletic
Conference Tournament Saturday night, as the top-seeded Fighting
Scots ran out to a 27-8 lead less than 10 minutes into the action
and never looked back en route to an 86-51 win against third-seeded
Ohio Wesleyan University at Timken Gymnasium.
With the victory, Wooster (25-3) receives the NCAC’s
automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament. The NCAA will
announce the field of 59 teams Sunday at approximately 10 p.m., and
the bracket is scheduled to be released Monday at 9 a.m.
After turning the ball over five seconds into the game, the Scots
scored on 12 of their next 14 possessions, making 10-of-13 field
goals (.769), including three 3-pointers, and 3-of-4 free throws,
which gave them that 19-point advantage.
Wooster continued to play at a high level throughout the opening
half, upping its lead to as much as 28 (44-16), and held a 48-27
cushion at the break. James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield
South) accounted for 22 of those 48 points, hitting 7-of-9 from the
field, including 4-of-5 3-pointers, and 4-of-4 free throws.
Ohio Wesleyan (18-10) began the second half with its best stretch,
as Jesse Jean scored the first six points to close within 15
(48-33). A bit later, another Jean bucket made it 54-37, however,
the Scots then reeled off seven unanswered points to elevate the
margin to 24 and the Bishops never got any closer than 19.
In addition to its offensive efficiency – Wooster ended up
shooting 55.2 percent from the field (32-of-58) – Wooster put
together one of its best defensive performances of the season. The
Scots held Ohio Wesleyan 25 points under their season average
coming in (76.5 ppg), compiling a defensive field-goal percentage
of .316 (18-of-57), helping to cause 13 turnovers, and owning a +13
advantage in the rebounding department (41-28).
It marked Wooster’s league-best 10th NCAC championship and
second for this year’s senior class of Tom Port (Avon Lake,
Ohio / Avon Lake), Tim Vandervaart (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover),
and Andy Van Horn (Loudonville, Ohio / Loudonville). Also of note,
the final 35-point margin was the largest in the title game of the
NCAC Tournament’s 23-year history.
Cooper added four more points in the second half to lead all
scorers with 26 en route to collecting tournament MVP honors. Over
the three games, Cooper scored 65 points on 23-of-37 field goals
(10-of-19 3-pointers) and 9-of-10 free throws.
Port also earned a spot on the all-tourney team, registering a stat
line of 18 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocked
shots, and two steals Saturday night, leading the Scots in the
latter four categories.
Ohio Wesleyan was paced by Jean’s double-double of 18 points
and 10 rebounds as well as a 10-point effort from Rudegeair. Both
were named to the all-tournament team, while the other selections
came from the other semifinalist teams – Dane Borchers of
Wittenberg University and Andrew Zimmer of Wabash College.
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