Strong Second Half Lifts Wooster Past Wabash and Into NCAC Tourney Championship Game

After trailing for long stretches of its North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal game, second-seeded College of Wooster had a critical 12-4 run midway through the second half to take the lead and later used a couple of clutch shots to put away No. 3 seed Wabash College, as the Fighting Scots eventually secured a 68-55 victory Friday evening on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.

Wooster (22-5) advances to the NCAC Tournament championship for the seventh-straight season and 18th time in the last 19 years. On Saturday, the Scots will face fourth-seeded DePauw University (18-9), which knocked off the top seed, Ohio Wesleyan, by a 69-65 count.

With several key Wooster players getting into early foul trouble, Wabash (18-9) led for all but a handful of possessions during the opening half, including 25-23 at intermission, and it stayed ahead the opening seven minutes of the second stanza.

Down 36-32 at the 14:29 mark of the second, the Scots made their move. First, a Dan Fanelly lay-up and five points from Xavier Brown, sandwiched around a Little Giants' bucket, gave Wooster a 39-38 edge.

Wabash went back up on a Kyle Aiton jumper, then Milt Davis gave the Scots the lead for good when he knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game to make it 42-40. Evan Pannell followed with a couple of free throws to complete the 12-4 run.

Wooster steadily expanded its advantage, thanks in part to Pannell, who had a three-point play, steal and breakaway dunk, and 3-pointer during a 67-second stretch, the latter putting the scoreboard at 52-45 with 6:01 remaining.

Aiton brought the Little Giants within four points on two occasions by hitting deep 3-pointers, the second making it 57-53 with 3:10 to go.

The Scots answered on the next possession, as Spencer Williams connected on a big 3-pointer, assisted by Fanelly. Next, they got a defensive stop and Fanelly worked his way to the free throw line, sinking both for a 62-53 cushion with 2:07 on the clock.

Having put Wabash in a position to foul, Wooster closed out the win by making 6-of-7 free throws.

The Little Giants owned a pair of seven-point leads during the first half – 18-11 and 20-13 – but the Scots stayed within striking distance as their perimeter players started hitting some outside shots while receiving eight quality minutes off the bench from little-used freshman post Derek Scwarz.

Overall, it was Wooster's defense that was the difference. It held Wabash to 34.6 percent from the field (18-for-52), helped create many of the Little Giants' 16 turnovers, and the Scots also won the rebounding battle, 41-34, despite having the smaller frontline.

Offensively, the Scots got all but eight of their points from the starting five. Pannell had a complete game with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals, while Fanelly notched a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Williams tossed in 14 points and Brown 10, and also of note, Alex LaLonde added four blocked shots on the defensive end.

Saturday's NCAC Tournament championship game will tip-off at 7 p.m. In their most recent meeting, Wooster narrowly edged DePauw 63-62 back on Jan. 24.