Williams’ Late Free Throws Lift Scots to Thrilling 91-90 Win Over No. 7 Bishops

WOOSTER, Ohio – Spencer Williams, after being fouled on a coast-to-coast drive, sank two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift The College of Wooster past No. 7 ranked Ohio Wesleyan University 91-90 on Wednesday night in a back-and-forth North Coast Athletic Conference affair at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (13-5, 9-2 NCAC) and Ohio Wesleyan (16-2, 9-2 NCAC) have now split the regular season series and are tied atop the conference standings with seven games remaining.

There were 10 lead changes and 10 ties during the second half, with six of those lead changes and five of those ties occurring over the final 3:07 alone.

In a game full of momentum swings, the Battling Bishops seemed to gain a big one when they gathered offensive rebounds off of missed free throws on back-to-back possessions. They were able to combine for seven points during that stretch to quickly turn an 81-76 deficit into an 83-82 lead at that 3:07 mark.

Alex LaLonde, who scored a game-high 23 points, tied it back up on the other end when he split a pair at the charity stripe, then Claude Gray matched him to put Ohio Wesleyan back up by one.

The free throw parade continued, with Josh Kipfer earning a trip to the line and making both to put the Fighting Scots ahead and Matt Jeske responding on the other end with a pair to make it an 87-86 Bishops advantage with 1:49 to play.

Wooster ended the streak of free throws, as Williams found Kipfer in the paint for a lay-up, and after a defensive stop, Reece Dupler found an opening for a driving lay-in to give the Scots an 89-86 lead with 53.1 seconds remaining.

Next, Ohio Wesleyan's Seth Clark got free on a baseline drive, converting a lay-up to make it a one-point game with 38.2 showing on the clock.

Following a Wooster miss, the Bishops worked the ball around to Gray, who was fouled attempting a 3-pointer on the left wing with just 4.9 ticks left. He missed the first free throw, the second rolled in to tie it, and the third was on target, giving Ohio Wesleyan a 90-89 lead.

The Scots in-bounded to Williams, who raced up the floor, and there was a whistle moments before his runner dropped through the hoop as the officials waved the field-goal attempt off. No matter, the sophomore guard stepped up to the line and dropped in both, sandwiched around a Bishops' timeout, to account for the game-winning point.

Ohio Wesleyan did try one last-desperation heave up court, but the pass was broken up by a pair of Wooster players to seal the outcome.

Prior to the final frantic minutes, the Scots had led by as much as 11 points (31-20) and 44-42 at halftime, despite the Bishops making eight of their final nine field goals of the first half. Wooster opened up a seven-point advantage (51-44) during the early moments of the second, but after that it was never more than a two-possession game for the last 18 minutes.

Both offenses shot right around 50 percent from the floor, Ohio Wesleyan finishing slightly ahead at 49.2 (31-for-63) to the Scots' 47.5 (29-for-61). The difference in the game came at the free throw line, where Wooster was more efficient, knocking down 24-of-31 (.774) compared to the visitors' 18-of-27 (.667).

LaLonde's 23 points were one short of the senior forward's career-high, and it included 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. Kipfer, also a senior, notched his second career double-double with 18 points coming on 6-of-8 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Williams's game-winner gave him 15 points overall, which included a perfect night at the charity stripe (6-for-6), and Dupler tallied a season-high 14 points while making his first career start.

Also noteworthy, Mitch Balser distributed five assists and Milt Davis came away with three steals.

Most of the Bishops' scoring came from Clark (18 points), Jeske (18), Nate Axelrod (17), and Ben Simpson (16), and Axelrod also piled up 10 assists.

The Scots will try to stay atop the NCAC standings on Saturday when they welcome Wabash College (10-8, 4-7 NCAC), coming off an impressive 69-54 over third-place Wittenberg University, to Timken Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. tip-off.