No. 13 Scots Come Back from 15 Down to Beat OWU 54-50

The College of Wooster, up to No. 13 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, gained its first lead with about 3:10 remaining and then held off Ohio Wesleyan University 54-50 to take the teams' defensive battle Wednesday night at Branch Rickey Arena in Delaware, Ohio, and move within one game of first-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings.

A little bit earlier in the evening, Wooster (19-3, 10-3 NCAC) received some help from Wabash College, which knocked off 22nd-ranked Wittenberg University 55-49, and now the Fighting Scots have an opportunity to move into a tie atop the NCAC on Saturday night when the two archrivals meet for another showdown. Click here for Wittenberg's ticket information.

It didn't look like Wooster would take advantage, as it fell behind 30-15 with 6:00 left in the first half at Ohio Wesleyan (16-6, 8-5 NCAC). The Scots grabbed a little momentum by trimming the deficit to 10 points at halftime (37-27).

Both teams struggled to get any kind of offense going during the early part of the second stanza, with the Battling Bishops extending their spread slightly to 43-31 a little more than seven minutes in. Next, Wooster put together its best stretch of the night, an 11-0 run, capped by a Justin Hallowell 3-pointer that got the Scots within a single point at the 8:50 mark.

Ohio Wesleyan halted the run briefly, only to see Wooster score seven more unanswered points as it tied the game 45-45 with 4:22 to play and then went ahead for the first time on a Hallowell bucket. After yet another defensive stop, Hallowell scored while being fouled on a baseline jumper to make it a two-possession game (49-45) with 2:13 left.

On the ensuing possession, Andy Winters converted a pair of free throws to pull the Bishops within two and shortly thereafter, they had a chance to tie it, but missed the front end of a one-and-one.

With the time ticking down under a minute, the Scots' Xavier Brown earned a trip to the free throw line where he split a pair and Winters answered on the other end by making 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, which put the score at 50-48.

Forced to foul, Ohio Wesleyan sent Matt Fegan to the line with 30.1 seconds remaining and he continued the trend by splitting a couple of free throws. Wooster's defense then forced the Bishops to waste quite a bit of clock before Winters converted a driving lay-up that cut their deficit to 51-50 at the 13.2 mark.

Ohio Wesleyan fouled Fegan again and this time the senior guard sunk both to push the Scots' lead back to three (53-50) with 10.5 left. Ohio Wesleyan got off a 3-point attempt from the left wing, but the shooter was off balance and it was off the mark and rebounded by Justin Warnes, who made the second of two free throws to seal the victory.

The key to the comeback was Wooster's second-half defense, as the Bishops were under 20 percent from the field (.192; 5-for-26) and only totaled 13 points the second 20 minutes. The Scots didn't fare much better shooting the ball, finishing at a season-low 34.6 percent (18-for-52) for the game but a shade ahead of Ohio Wesleyan's 31.1 percent (19-for-61).

The Bishops also handed Wooster its worst rebounding margin of the season with a 46-36 mark in that category, however, the Scots were able to stay in it with just seven turnovers, tying a season low.

Hallowell led the way for Wooster with his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career. He scored 14 points, including 6-of-11 field goals, and tallied 15 rebounds to match his career high on the glass. The senior forward also contributed a pair of blocked shots.

No other Scot reached double figures. Brown added nine points, and also of note, Evan Pannell came through with five points in just seven minutes off the bench.

For Ohio Wesleyan, Winters pumped in a game-high 16 points, while Tim Brady, the league's leading scorer (21.5 ppg), was limited to four on a 1-of-16 night from the floor.

Tip time for Wittenberg-Wooster in Springfield, Ohio, this Saturday is slated for 7:30 p.m.