LaLonde Lifts Wooster Over Oberlin 91-71

WOOSTER, Ohio – The No. 14 ranked College of Wooster men's basketball team stayed ahead of Oberlin College from start-to-finish, eventually breaking away for a 91-71 North Coast Athletic Conference win that featured a career-high 24 points for the Fighting Scots' Alex LaLonde on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (11-2, 5-1 NCAC) accounted for 15 of the game's opening 16 points, and appeared on its way to a decisive victory. Later in the first half, though, Oberlin (6-7, 2-4 NCAC) rallied, trimming a 36-20 deficit down to 40-32, with six of its 12 points during that stretch coming from Miles Gueno, and it was 45-34 at the break.

After LaLonde hit a couple of free throws for the opening points of the second half, Oberlin went on another run, this time 9-2 to make it a two-possession game (49-43) for the first time since the game's opening moments.

While the margin never got any closer, the Scots could not shake the upstart Yeomen until late. It was a 7-to-12-point spread from the 14:56 mark to 7:01, then LaLonde delivered a nice pass to Milt Davis for a lay-up and Evan Pannell flushed a dunk on the next possession for a 71-56 cushion.

Wooster remained ahead by double figures the rest of the way.

One of the storylines of the game was the 48 fouls that were called. The Scots were an uncharacteristic 60.7 percent on free throws (17-for-28), while Oberlin was near perfect at 83.9 percent (26-for-31).

The difference was Wooster's offensive efficiency, as it made 65.4 percent of its shots from the field during the first half (17-for-26) and 55.7 percent for the game (34-for-61), compared to the Yeomen's overall rate of .392 (20-for-51).

LaLonde's 24 points included 10-of-14 field goals (2-of-3 pointers), while Pannell was right behind with 23 points – the senior's fourth game this season with at least 23. He shot 9-of-14 from the floor and added a game-high eight rebounds.

Xavier Brown and Dan Fanelly chipped in 11 points apiece, and Spencer Williams passed out five assists without a turnover.

Pacing Oberlin was Jack Poyle with an efficient 20 points as his scoring came on 6-of-9 field goals and 8-of-8 free throws.

After playing four of five at home, the Scots will take to the road for five of their next seven, starting Wednesday night at Hiram College (8-5, 2-4 NCAC).