Defensive Struggle With Gators Goes to Scots, 52-39

The College of Wooster held an opponent under 40 points for the first time in four seasons, as the Fighting Scots emerged a 52-39 victor during a defensive battle with Allegheny College Wednesday night in North Coast Athletic Conference action at Meadville, Pa.

With the win, Wooster remains in a first-place tie in the NCAC with Ohio Wesleyan University, both at 13-2 heading into Saturday's regular season finale.

The Scots, now 18-6 overall, started out ice cold, making just two of their first 16 field-goal attempts, but only trailed 11-9. Wooster started to shoot a little better, however, Allegheny (10-14, 6-9 NCAC) managed to expand its lead to 18-14.

Then, Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) sparked the Scots with a 3-pointer, followed by a steal that led to an Ian Franks (Greenwich, Ohio / South Central) old-fashioned three-point play. That gave Wooster a 20-18 lead and after the Gators tied it, Bidwell assisted on a Dustin Geitgey (West Salem, Ohio / Northwestern) 3-pointer. Wooster would never trail again.

After the Scots went into the halftime break with a 25-20 advantage, Allegheny scored the first four points of the second. Wooster, though, proceeded to put together a momentum-changing run, behind the hot hand of Justin Hallowell (Worthington, Ohio / Thomas Worthington) as the freshman standout scored 13 points during a 21-5 stretch, adding up to a 46-29 cushion for the Scots.

Wooster would hit another cold stretch offensively, but still led comfortably the rest of the way, thanks to the action on the other side of the floor. It was Jan. 7, 2005, the last time the Scots gave up so few points. That day, Wooster easily dispatched St. Francis (Ill.) University 73-39 in a neutral-site game played at Daytona Beach, Fla.

The final numbers read the Scots shooting 32.7 percent from the floor (18-for-55) and the Gators 28.3 percent (15-for-53), marking season-lows for both offensive and defensive field-goal percentage in Wooster games. The Scots did make nine 3-pointers out of 26 attempts (.346), six more than Allegheny (.143; 3-for-21), and all seven of their free throws.

Hallowell's second-half burst led to a game-high 17 points, including 3-of-5 3-point shooting, while Nathan Balch (Westerville, Ohio / Olentangy) and Bidwell wound up with 10 points apiece.

Franks had a game-high four assists and seven rebounds to offset an off-shooting night for Wooster's top scorer. Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) shared team honors with seven boards.

Allegheny was paced by George Raftis's 13 points and Doug Price's 12 rebounds.

On Saturday afternoon, the Scots will look to clinch at least a share of the 2008-09 NCAC championship when they welcome Earlham College (3-21, 3-12 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium for a 3 p.m. tip-off.