Wooster’s 16-2 Stretch in Second Half Leads to NCAA First Round Win

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The College of Wooster advanced to the second round of the NCAA Div. III Tournament, topping Gettysburg College 79-66 Friday at the Capital Center, keyed by a 16-2 run that covered seven-plus minutes of the second half and featured 3-pointers on consecutive possessions by Dustin Geitgey (West Salem, Ohio / Northwestern).

The win marked the 600th of Wooster head coach Steve Moore's career (600-184), as he becomes just the eighth Div. III coach to reach that milestone. Of more importance to Moore is that the Fighting Scots will play Capital University (25-4), for the right to move on to the sectional semifinals, otherwise known as the "Sweet 16," on Saturday at 7 p.m. Capital defeated Thomas More College 80-77 in overtime.

Gettysburg (18-9) was up 37-32 at halftime and did not relinquish that lead the first 10 minutes of the second. Around the 12-minute mark and with the score 50-47, the Fighting Scots began their aforementioned run. First, Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) got free for a jumper in the lane and later Ian Franks (Greenwich, Ohio / South Central) tied it with a free throw.

The Bullets answered with a free throw on the ensuing possession to go back ahead, 51-50, however, it was Wooster which made almost all of the key plays after that. Franks converted a drive to the hoop for the Scots' first lead of the half and after a couple of defensive stops, Nathan Balch (Westerville, Ohio / Olentangy) delivered one of his three 3-pointers to make it a two-possession game (55-51).

The Scots got two more defensive stops before Geitgey hit his back-to-back 3-pointers, both coming from the left corner and resulting in a 10-point cushion (61-51) with just under 6:00 remaining.

Gettysburg managed to pull back within six, only to see Balch nail another 3-pointer, thanks to a drive by Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) that brought extra defenders to him.

Following a couple of free throws for the Bullets (68-61), Bidwell again came up with a big assist, feeding Wickliffe for a lay-up. He was fouled on the shot and finished the three-point play for a 71-61 Wooster lead at the 1:22 mark.

The closest Gettysburg would get again was 73-66 with 56.5 seconds left. The Scots proceeded to go 6-of-6 from the foul line, sealing the victory.

The opening half saw Wooster score the first five points, but then neither squad led by more than five until the second-half run.

Statistically, the Scots shot 55.3 percent from the field (26-for-47), including 6-of-9 3-pointers in the second half and 7-of-15 for the game (.467), while the Bullets were just under 50 percent overall (.469; 23-for-49). Wooster held a slight edge in rebounds (28-27) and committed two less turnovers (13 to 11).

Balch, who missed the last two games due to injury, recorded his third 20-point game, finishing with 21 on 8-of-9 field goals (3-of-4 3-pointers) and 2-of-2 free throws. He had a team-leading seven rebounds, too. Franks contributed 18 tallies in the scorebook, while Hallowell and Wickliffe each had 14 points.

Also of note, Geitgey's eight points marked the only scoring from the Scot bench and Bidwell registered a game-high five assists. It also was the 100th win for Wooster with Bidwell on the floor, improving to 100-20 over the last four seasons.

Andrew Powers posted game highs in both points with 23 and rebounds with eight.