Dustin Geitgey finds an angle to the hoop during Wooster's 89-71 victory Friday. He had nine points and four rebounds, all in the first half.

WOOSTER, Ohio – On what would have been Corey Cline's fourth birthday, The College of Wooster continued to honor his memory by playing some of its best basketball of the season, putting together a 20-1 stretch during the first half and rolling past Kenyon College 89-71 in a North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal match-up Friday night at Timken Gymnasium. Cline, the young son of assistant coach Doug Cline, died in a tragic accident Sunday morning.

Wooster (21-6) will now meet Wabash College (14-12), a 73-56 winner over Allegheny College earlier Friday, in Saturday's championship game.

The Fighting Scots never trailed against Kenyon (16-11). They scored the first eight points, including a Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) 3-pointer on the initial possession for the second time this week.

Despite Wooster's early outburst, the Lords were able to stay close, keeping the margin between four and eight points until the eight-minute mark when the Scots began the aforementioned 19-point run. Leading 27-22, Mike Evans (Pickerington, Ohio / Pickerington North) would score the next five points and then Justin Hallowell (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington) delivered 3-pointers on three-straight Wooster possessions to make it 40-22.

After a free throw by Kenyon, the Scots added seven more unanswered points for a 47-23 cushion. The Lords finally ended a six-plus minute drought without a field goal, during which Wooster helped limit them to 0-for-7 field-goal shooting and into two turnovers.

The score stood 52-27 at halftime, and during the second, the Lords were never able to lower the deficit under 20 until the final minute of the game. The Scots even had the luxury of resting their starters the final 7:30.

Wooster shot right around 50 percent from the floor (.492; 29-for-59), highlighted by 14-of-28 3-pointers, while Kenyon wound up at an even 40 percent overall (22-for-55) and from 3-point range (10-for-25). Also of note, the Scots owned a 40-33 rebounding advantage and only committed seven turnovers, including just one in the first half.

Wooster had its usual balanced effort with five players reaching double figures in scoring. Ian Franks (Greenwich, Ohio / South Central) produced game highs in points with 17, assists with seven, and rebounds with five, sharing top honors in the latter category with teammate Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) and the Lords' Dave Jolson.

Bidwell and Evans each put 15 markers in the scorebook, while Hallowell and Matt Fegan (Strongsville, Ohio / Strongsville) each made four 3-pointers en route to 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Another key to the win was the Scots' defense on Bryan Yelvington, as the NCAC's leader in both scoring and rebounding had just two points and two boards during 14 minutes of playing time the first half. He wound up with 14 points, with much of it coming after the outcome had already been determined.

Jolson was a bright spot for the Lords with 12 points, the five rebounds, and three assists.

In Friday's initial game, Wabash held Allegheny without a field goal for the first six minutes of the second half as part of a 13-2 run that broke open the game. The Little Giants had been ahead 34-31 at the halftime break and then led by double-digits the last 17 minutes of the game.

Wes Smith had a standout performance with 27 points and 14 rebounds, while sharp-shooting Chase Haltom chipped in 11 points to the winning effort.

Henry Heeter paced the Gators with 17 points, including 4-of-11 3-pointers.

Wabash and Wooster will tip-off at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the winner earning the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Div. III Tournament.