No. 17 Wooster Rides Strong Finish of Opening Half to 81-52 Win Over Wabash

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster, ranked No. 17 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, broke an 18-18 deadlock with a dominant 16-4 stretch to end the first half and added a 7-0 run early in the second half for a 20-point cushion (48-28) en route to a decisive 81-52 victory over Wabash College during the North Coast Athletic Conference foes' match-up Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

Neither team led by more than six points through the opening 14 minutes. Then with the scored tied at 18, Wooster (5-2, 2-1 NCAC) produced its best play of the half on both ends of the floor, keyed by Xavier Brown. Offensively, Brown accounted for 10 points during the 16-4 run, and he contributed one defensive rebound, one block, and one steal in a sequence that saw the Fighting Scots limit Wabash (5-2, 2-1 NCAC) to 2-for-10 field-goal shooting with three turnovers, as they went into the break ahead 34-22.

Through the first 2:30 of the second half, the two squads traded points over a series of possessions. With the score 41-28, Brown kick started another strong stretch with two jumpers in the paint, sandwiched around a block on the defensive end, and Evan Pannell canned a 3-pointer for a 48-28 lead.

The margin never got closer than 15 the rest of the way, as Wooster went on to the comfortable win.

The biggest difference in the game was turnovers. The Scots committed just five and helped force the Little Giants into 19, resulting in a 17-2 advantage in points off turnovers.

Wooster also shot 45.6 percent from the field (31-for-68) to Wabash's 36.8 percent (21-for-57).

Brown led all players with 24 points, marking a season best for the senior guard, and he also piled up a career-high three blocked shots and a season-high four steals.

Pannell put 14 points in the scorebook to go with a game-high nine rebounds, while Spencer Williams matched him with 14 points and tallied three assists without a turnover.

Also of note, Dan Fanelly had three steals, Josh Kipfer corralled six boards, four on the offensive end, and Alex LaLonde blocked three shots.

Daniel Purvlicis delivered 15 points for the Little Giants.

Wooster next plays the University of Pittsburgh-Bradford (3-4) on the road Wednesday at 5 p.m.