Scots Unable to Keep Pace With Big Red's Offensive Barrage, Fall in NCAC Finals 91-82 in OT

DELAWARE, Ohio – Denison University's offensive barrage during the second half and overtime resulted in the fourth-seeded Big Red upending The College of Wooster, the No. 2 seed, by a 92-81 score in Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game, which took place inside Branch Rickey Arena at Ohio Wesleyan University.

Denison (17-11) earns the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Div. III Championships field, while Wooster (21-7) holds out hope for a possible at-large berth.

The Fighting Scots led by 16 points early in the second half, then needed to rally just to force the extra session. During an extended stretch of the half, the Big Red made 8-of-10 3-pointers, the last by Jett Speelman giving them a 73-69 lead around the two-minute mark of regulation.

Three defensive stops combined with two Mitch Balser free throws at the 58.5 mark, and a Dan Fanelly put-back with 21.0 left allowed Wooster to force overtime.

The Scots gained early leads of 75-73 and 78-76 during the extra five minutes, however, Denison answered each time and would score every possession except for one. Darius White and David Meurer knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, the second giving the Big Red a lead (81-78) they would not relinquish.

Fanelly converted a driving lay-up to make it 81-80 as the clock ticked under two minutes, then blocking fouls on consecutive Denison possessions, sandwiched around a Wooster missed 3-ball, put Meurer on the free throw line twice. He made all four to extend the advantage to 85-80, and the upstart Big Red proceeded to make 7-of-8 more from the charity stripe the last 55.2 seconds to win their first conference tourney title.

The Scots, playing in their eighth-straight NCAC Tournament and 24th overall, opened up a 45-35 halftime lead. Ahead 30-25, Wooster added an 11-2 run, keyed by seven points from Fanelly.

To start the second half, Fanelly accounted for four points and Spencer Williams two, as the Scots' lead stretched to 51-35.

Then, Denison started to heat up. Wooster kept pace for a while, but a critical juncture came as a 57-44 cushion at the 13-minute mark turned into a 58-58 deadlock in about three minutes.

Neither team led by more than four again until the last two minutes of overtime.

By making 10 of their last 13 3-pointers, the Big Red finished 51.7 percent (15-of-29) for the game and were at 52.5 percent overall from the field (31-of-59).

The Scots were just a shade under at .493 (35-of-71), helped in part by 19 offensive rebounds. Overall, Wooster more than doubled Denison on the glass, 45-22, but was done in by 3-of-17 3-point shooting (.176) and 18 turnovers.

Fanelly and Kipfer each recorded double-doubles in the championship game en route to earning spots on the all-tournament team. Fanelly had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Kipfer 14 and 12.

Also reaching double figures were Reece Dupler and Williams with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Meurer was the NCAC Tournament MVP, following a 28-point, five-assist, five-steal performance, while Speelman also keyed the victory with 25 points and four assists.