Late Run in First Half, Early Run in Second Spark Wooster to 86-76 Win at Oberlin

A 13-2 run late in the first half propelled The College of Wooster to its first double-digit lead and a 12-2 stretch early in the second half resulted in another, keying the Fighting Scots' eventual 86-76 win over North Coast Athletic Conference foe Oberlin College on Saturday afternoon at Oberlin, Ohio.

With the score 25-24 around the seven-minute mark of the opening half, Wooster (9-4, 5-1 NCAC) scored nine consecutive points as part of the aforementioned 13-2 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Spencer Williams and Jordan Stock on back-to-back possessions.

Thanks to that outburst, the Scots were ahead 45-34 at halftime.

Oberlin (6-6, 2-4 NCAC) accounted for eight of the first 10 points of the second half to narrow the margin to five, then Alex LaLonde and Williams countered with consecutive 3-pointers to spark Wooster's 12-2 stretch that put the visitors up 59-44 with 15:00 remaining.

The lead stayed between 10 and 17 points until the final minute when a mini Yeomen rally got them within single digits (84-76) with just :19 to play.

Both teams shot the ball fairly well, the Scots at 46.2 percent from the field (30-for-65), including 11-of-29 from 3-point range (.379), compared to a rate of .441 (26-for-59) for Oberlin, with 8-of-23 3-pointers (.348). Wooster owned a 39-34 rebounding edge and turned the ball over four less times.

Williams had a near-perfect shooting day, hitting all four 3-point shots he attempted and 6-of-7 overall from the floor, plus two free throws for a team-leading 18 points.

Stock, a freshman, reached double figures for the first time in his career with 14 points while also collecting a game-high nine rebounds, and LaLonde chipped in 13 points to the winning cause.

Mitch Balser, Reece Dupler, and Josh Kipfer each had nine points.

The Yeomen's Jack Poyle had a strong outing with 27 points coming on 8-of-11 field goals (4-of-6 3-pointers) and 7-of-8 free throws.

On Wednesday, the Scots welcome Hiram College (11-2, 5-1 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium for a match-up between two of the three teams currently tied for first-place in the conference. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.