Scots Earn Hard-Fought 78-75 Win Over Dutchmen To Take “Mose” Hole Title

WOOSTER, Ohio – In a back-and-forth battle in which neither team led by more than three points for the final 12 minutes, No. 14 ranked College of Wooster out-executed Hope College just enough over the last couple of minutes to come out with a 78-75 victory in the championship game of the 52nd annual E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic, held at Timken Gymnasium Tuesday night.

Wooster (8-2) trailed 71-69 and 73-71 late, but each time, Dan Fanelly answered by earning trips to the foul line and tying it back up, the second set of free throws coming with 2:04 remaining.

The Scots' defense followed by helping induce back-to-back turnovers, as it was still deadlocked at 73 entering the last minute of regulation.

Then maybe the two most decisive possessions of the night both went Wooster's way. Fanelly spun his way to a basket on the inside for the lead, followed by Alex LaLonde holding his ground on a drive by Hope's (6-4) high-scoring guard Ben Gardner, blocking the shot, and collecting the rebound.

Jalen Goodwin split a pair of free throws at the 26.5 mark to push the Scots' advantage to 76-73.

Next, Brock Benson made it a one-point game with 13.8 seconds left.

After the Flying Dutchmen quickly fouled, Xavier Brown made the first and missed the second, with teammate Evan Pannell skying for the offensive rebound and then being fouled himself with 8.1 ticks on the clock. Pannell connected on the first to make it a three-point lead again, however, the second was off the mark, thus allowing Hope one last chance to send it to overtime.

The Flying Dutchmen's Alex Eidson raced up the floor and took a deep 3-pointer from the right wing that glanced off the left side of the rim and into LaLonde's arms as Wooster secured the win in a battle between two of the top teams annually in the NCAA Div. III Great Lakes Region.

During the first half, the Scots got off to a good start, steadily constructing an 11-point lead (31-20), however, Hope closed strong and was within 43-39 at the break.

Wooster went up by eight a couple of times in the early stages of the second half, the second time at 53-45. The Flying Dutchmen followed with their best stretch – a 17-6 run that included consecutive 3-balls from Gardner at one point.

Overall, the Scots' slight edge in rebounding and shooting was the difference, as they won the battle of the glass 41-35 and made 45.2 percent from the field (28-for-62) to Hope's .426 rate (26-for-61).

Fanelly finished with a career-high 28 points plus nine boards en route to tournament MVP honors, while Brown and Pannell had 14- and 13-point performances, respectively. They each were picked for the all-tournament team.

Also scoring double figures, LaLonde tallied 10 points to complement his three assists and three blocks.

The Flying Dutchmen's Benson notched a career best himself with 26 points, but it was his work on the defensive end that was more notable. He registered four blocked shots for the second-straight game and was awarded defensive MVP.

Gardner tacked on 21 points, including 3-of-3 3-point shooting, and was an all-tourney selection.

Rounding out the all-tournament team were the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Cale Zuiker and Brandon Gabriel of Spalding University. Wis.-La Crosse won the consolation, 71-66 over Spalding.

Wooster returns to North Coast Athletic Conference action this Saturday with a trip to Denison University (8-3, 2-2 NCAC). Tip-off in Granville, Ohio, is scheduled for 3 p.m.