20th-Ranked Scots Hold Off Lords’ Comeback Attempt

The College of Wooster, No. 20 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, survived a fierce comeback bid by Kenyon College, when Xavier Brown knocked down a jumper with :31 to play for a 93-91 lead followed by a final defensive stand to preserve the North Coast Athletic Conference triumph inside Tomsich Arena at Gambier, Ohio, on Wednesday night.

Wooster (16-4, 10-3 NCAC) owned a 24-point cushion (80-56) with 10 minutes remaining, only to see Kenyon (6-14, 4-9 NCAC) nearly pull out an unlikely win. From when the scoreboard read 76-52 to 91-91, the Lords scored at an incredible rate – 18 of their 19 offensive possessions.

And, when the Scots came up empty with a little over a minute left, Kenyon had the opportunity to take a late lead. The home team's hot stretch finally ended, with Dan Fanelly collecting the defensive rebound.

Next, Brown's jumper from near the top of the lane rolled in, but the Lords still had a chance to either tie or win the game.

Wooster's defense held, first causing a loose ball that rolled out of bounds with :03 to go and then forcing a mid-range jumper right before the buzzer that was off the mark.

During the first half, the Scots strung together a 28-6 run, overcoming an early 14-8 deficit and eventually taking a seemingly comfortable 48-29 advantage into halftime.

Wooster expanded that lead to as much as 27 points (70-43) before the valiant comeback attempt began.

Statistically, the Scots shot more than 58 percent from the field (.585; 38-for-65), and thanks to its impressive last 12 minutes, so did Kenyon (.583; 35-for-60). The rest of the final numbers were also remarkably close for the two teams.

Evan Pannell led five Wooster players in double figures with 23 points, which included hitting 9-of-10 field goals, while Brown's game-winner gave him 14 points.

Fanelly tallied 13 points to go with a team-high eight rebounds, Alex LaLonde tossed in an even dozen, all coming on 3-pointers (4-for-6), and Milt Davis provided a spark off the bench with 10 points.

Cooper Handelsman paced four Lords in double figure with 19 points and he distributed a game-high seven assists.

The Scots will be home for the first time in two weeks on Saturday night, as Denison University (12-8, 6-7 NCAC) visits Timken Gymnasium for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.