Hempy Now Fourth on Wooster's All-Time Scoring List, Scores Career-High 38 Points in 76-57 Win Over Kenyon

WOOSTER, Ohio – Zone defense certainly hasn't been The College of Wooster men's basketball team's calling card during the tenure of legendary head coach Steve Moore. Nonetheless, the Fighting Scots looked like a well-oiled machine – in the first half especially – during Wednesday night's 76-57 win over Kenyon College at Timken Gymnasium.

Senior Danyon Hempy's night was just as impressive. His three-pointer with 9:16 left in the game moved the four-year star past W Association Hall of Famer Tom Port for fourth on the storied program's all-time scoring list. By night's end, the North Coast Athletic Conference's leading scorer upped his career-high to 38 points. Hempy put an exclamation point on his career night, as the psychology major knocked down a three-pointer, and then finished the rare four-point play at the charity stripe, prior to getting subbed out with 2:13 to go.

Wooster (15-5, 9-4 NCAC), which played two-three zone all night, held Kenyon (6-14, 3-10 NCAC) to 18 points in the first half, during which the Lords were just 7-of-26 from the floor. That marked the fewest points in a half by a Scots' opponent since the Lords scored 17 in the second half of the meeting between the two programs on January 18, 2017, while it was the lowest first-half total allowed by Wooster since DePauw University dropped 17 on December 10, 2016.

Offensively, Wooster's forwards – junior Dontae Williams and senior Trenton Tipton – helped the Scots get out to a strong start. Williams dropped 10 points in the first 5:26, with eight of them coming on midrange jumpers. Tipton's early contributions included an assist, layup, rebound, and steal during Wooster's game-opening 16-8 run.

Wooster led by as many as 19 in the first half, thanks in large part to a 16-3 stretch. Hempy did the heavy lifting in the scoring column with 12 of the Scots' 16 points. Sophomore JG Gillard worked hard down low for a pair of lay-ins, while three of the Scots' six first-half steals came during the run.

Led by Carter Powell, Kenyon hung around for the majority of the second half. His three-pointer with 9:31 remaining pulled the Lords within 51-40, but Wooster responded with a 13-5 stretch that all but put the game out of reach.

Hempy knocked down 13 of his 22 field goals, and he was 5-of-7 on three-pointers and 7-of-9 at the line. The senior corralled six rebounds and dished out four assists. Of note, he now has six career 30-point games, a total tied with W Association Hall of Famer Bryan Nelson for the fourth-most in program history.

Williams' active night resulted in his sixth double-double of the season. He finished with 14 points, a game-high 11 rebounds, and four assists. Sophomore Khaylen Mahdi was the team's high man with six assists.

Wooster shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62) for the game and had a season-low seven turnovers.

Powell was the standout for the Lords with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Other stats to note included 15 points by Kamal Aubakirov and seven assists by Ryan O'Neil.

Kenyon shot 34.4 percent (22-of-64) for the game and turned the ball over 14 times.

Next, Wooster hosts Ohio Wesleyan University (11-9, 6-7 NCAC) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 8.