Dominant Second Half Leads to Scots’ 84-68 Victory in NCAC Opener

The College of Wooster made 21-of-30 field goals in the second half, including six in a row during two different stretches, to pull away from Kenyon College as the Fighting Scots, up three spots to No. 6 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, turned in an 84-68 win in their North Coast Athletic Conference lid-lifter Wednesday night at Gambier, Ohio.

Trailing 34-32, Wooster (4-0, 1-0 NCAC) came out of the halftime break with a 3-pointer from Justin Hallowell on its second possession and was never behind again. Shortly after Hallowell's 3-ball, the Scots began their first run of six consecutive field goals, with the fifth, a Justin Warnes transition lay-up, giving the visitors a 47-39 lead and prompting a timeout from Kenyon (2-3, 0-1 NCAC).

Wooster continued to own a 5-to-8-point advantage until its second set of six-straight field goals. This time, the Scots' defense also clamped down, allowing them to turn a 51-46 game into 65-48 with 8:38 remaining.

From there, Wooster extended the margin to as much as 24 points (81-57) before closing out the 16-point victory.

During the first half, the Scots led by as much as 25-17, however, the Lords closed strong and gained the two-point edge at intermission.

Wooster's 70.0 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes allowed it to finish at .618 from the floor (34-for-55), which included an even 50.0 percent from 3-point range (7-for-14). Defensively, the Scots held Kenyon to a rate of .453 from the field (24-for-53) and outrebounded the hosts 29-25.

It was a balanced offensive attack, as Xavier Brown paced five Wooster players in double figures with 22 points, including a very efficient 10-of-15 field goals. Hallowell, who played only six minutes during the first half due to foul trouble, was next in the scoring department with 15 tallies, highlighted by a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc.

Josh Claytor came up with 13 points on the inside, while Ryan Snyder and Warnes chipped in 11 apiece, both going 4-for-5 from the floor. Also of note, Jake Mays led the team with seven boards and Matt Fegan produced a game-high four assists.

The Lords' Ikenna Nwadibia had 17 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

The Scots dip back into non-league play Saturday with a trip to Adrian College (4-2).