Wooster Rolls Past Allegheny, 92-66, Wins NCAC Tournament Quarterfinal Game for 24th Consecutive Year

WOOSTER, Ohio – Fueled by key first-half performances by sophomores Najee Hardaway and Khaylen Mahdi, The College of Wooster men's basketball team came out in the second half and opened with a 27-4 run en route to a convincing 92-66 win over visiting Allegheny College in the quarterfinals of the 2020 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Tuesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (19-7), which won its quarterfinal game for the 24th consecutive year, will play Denison University (11-15) in Friday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal game at Wittenberg University's Pam Evans Smith Arena. The seventh-seeded Big Red upset second-seeded Wabash College (17-9) 75-69 on Tuesday evening. Tuesday's other quarterfinal games saw fourth-ranked, and top-seeded Wittenberg University (25-1) beat Ohio Wesleyan University (12-14) 69-55, and fifth-seeded Oberlin College (15-11) knocked off fourth-seeded DePauw University (14-12) 75-63. The Tigers and Yeomen play in Friday's 5:30 p.m. semifinal. Friday's winners will play in the championship game, which is set for Saturday at 4 p.m. at Wittenberg.

Wooster and Allegheny (14-12) were tied at 23 in the first half when Hardaway took over. The Africana studies and education double major scored the go-ahead bucket on a tip-in with 5:48 remaining. Next, Hardaway upped the lead to four with one of his signature driving layups, and the sophomore capped a personal 6-0 stretch with a layup that came after Mahdi's steal.

Later, Hardaway secured a defensive rebound, drove right by a pair of Allegheny defenders near the free-throw line, and finished a coast-to-coast layup that put Wooster on top 33-25 with 2:13 left in the half.

On the next possession, Allegheny was locked in on Hardaway, and that paved the way for Mahdi to knock down an open three-pointer. Then, just before halftime, Mahdi corralled an offensive rebound, and his jumper at the buzzer hung on the rim before eventually falling through, thus giving Wooster a 40-30 lead.

The second half was mostly about Hempy, who scored 14 of his Wooster NCAC Tournament-record 35 points during Wooster's 27-4 stretch. The psychology major surpassed 600 points on the season on a three-ball with 15:20 remaining. With that bucket, the four-year star joined Wooster legend Tom Dinger '71 as the only players with multiple 600-point seasons in program history.

Junior Dontae Williams was another big-time contributor during Wooster's lengthy second-half run. Williams, who overcame early foul trouble, scored six points, secured six rebounds, and blocked two shots during the 27-4 run, that saw Wooster's lead balloon to 67-34 with 11:40 to go.

Later, Hempy's milestone-filled night kept going. His three-ball with 5:06 remaining upped the senior's career point haul to 1,959. With that bucket, Hempy passed Bryan Nelson '03, the 2003 National Association of Basketball Coaches Div. III National Player of the Year for third on the storied program's all-time scoring list.

Hempy was 14-of-27 from the floor, 4-of-9 from three-point land, and corralled six rebounds. Williams logged a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. He was 9-of-11 from the floor. Hardaway scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and dished out a career-high five assists.

Other stats to note include five assists by junior Peyton Bennington.

Wooster shot 59.1 percent (39-of-66) on the night, had a 13-rebound advantage, and limited the turnovers to 10.

Keeno Holmes' 20 points led Allegheny. Jordan Rawls joined him in double figures at 16.

The Gators shot 35.0 percent (21-of-60) for the game, started 1-of-17 from the floor in the second half, and also had 10 turnovers.

Vote for Hempy: Remember to vote for Danyon Hempy in the "Dark Horse Dunker" contest at darkhorsedunker.com. Remember to cast your votes for the quarterfinal round by 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, February 26. If Hempy advances to the semifinals, that voting starts at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 27.