Wooster Rolls Past Sacred Heart to Go 2-0 in Puerto Rico

The College of Wooster scored the game's first eight points and held a double-digit lead throughout most of its encounter with the University of Sacred Heart (P.R.) on Tuesday afternoon, eventually securing a 78-50 victory to conclude its two games at the Puerto Rico Classic.

Wooster (7-2), which came back from a 20-point deficit to knock off St. Mary's College of Maryland 63-61 on Monday, made five of its first six field goal attempts and shot 53.8 percent from the field (14-of-26) during the opening half en route to a 38-19 advantage at the break. It may have been a larger lead had it not been for 15 first-half turnovers.

In the second stanza, the Fighting Scots shot 45.7 percent from the floor (16-of-35) to finish just under 50.0 percent for the game (.492; 30-of-61). Defensively, Wooster was even more impressive, limiting Sacred Heart to under 30.0 percent overall from the field (.286; 18-for-63), and it outrebounded the Dolphins 56-23.

The decisive win allowed the Scots to spread playing time around, as the 12 players that made the trip each spent 9-to-21 minutes on the court. Jake Mays scored a career-high 14 points to lead the way in that category, followed by Matt Fegan with 12 and Josh Claytor with 10. Justin Warnes distributed a career-high eight assists and Xavier Brown grabbed a squad-leading nine rebounds.

Also of note, Doug Thorpe followed up his career-high 12 points versus St. Mary's (Md.) with nine on 3-of-7 3-pointers and Kenny DeBoer had eight rebounds and two steals while making both field goals he attempted.

After Christmas, Wooster returns to practice and will host the 49th annual "Mose" Hole/Kiwanis Classic on Dec. 29-30, when the Scots will play Thiel College (7-2) and Heidelberg University (3-6).