Scots Lock Up Top-Four Seed With 67-56 Win Over Big Red

WOOSTER, Ohio – Junior Turner Kurt's three-point parade provided a calming presence for The College of Wooster men's basketball team, which officially locked up a top-four seed for next week's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with Wednesday night's 67-56 win over Denison University at Timken Gymnasium.

Denison (10-12, 9-7 NCAC) forward Freeman Brou's floater fell at the 11:36 mark, giving the Big Red their lone lead of the night at 12-11. Wooster (16-8, 12-5 NCAC) sophomore Elijah Meredith's turnaround jumper fell through giving the Scots the lead for good with 10:56 on the scoreboard. Kurt took over from there, hitting three of his game-high five triples over the ensuing 2:32. Senior Brandon Styers followed with a three-ball of his own, with that triple staking Wooster to a 25-18 lead at the 8:07 mark. Later, senior Hamilton Johnson connected from the corner, with his three upping the Scots' lead to a first-half-best 36-25. Wooster went on to take a 38-32 lead into the break.

Senior Najee Hardaway's driving layup started Wooster's best stretch of the game, and sophomore Nick Everett upped the Scots' lead to 56-41 with 9:51 remaining. In between, Meredith finished at the rim after a laser pass from Hardaway, then the Scots' forward worked the two-man game with Everett for the other bucket of the 8-0 stretch.

Styers beat Denison down the floor with just north of 2:30 left in the game, and Meredith was on point with the lengthy pass leading to a fast-break layup for the Scots' senior guard. Next, Kurt split a pair of free throws, giving Wooster its largest lead of the night at 67-49.

Defensively, first-year Jamir Billings stole the ball from Tyler Miller near the second-half's 8:00 mark, and that pick marked the guard's 76th of the year, moving him into first-place on the storied program's single-season leaderboard.

Kurt dropped in a game-high 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting, which included an impressive 5-of-7 showing from beyond the arc. His seven rebounds and two blocked shots marked team-highs on the night for the Scots. Wooster's posts accounted for 48 of the team's 67 points. Everett logged a dozen of the forwards' points and finished with six rebounds, while Meredith tallied 11 points.

Three Scots passed out at least four assists on the night, with Hardaway's five leading the way. The Scots outrebounded the Big Red 41-28, and four players had at least five on the stat sheet.

Wooster shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) for the game, was 9-of-21 on three-pointers, and went 2-of-3 at the line.

Brou and Dre Rodgers scored 10 points apiece for Denison. Brou added three steals and two blocked shots to his line.

Denison shot just 34.5 percent (19-of-55) for the game, was 9-of-28 on three-pointers, and went 9-of-12 at the line.

With its win, plus Wittenberg University's (13-10, 11-5 NCAC) 71-67 win over Ohio Wesleyan University (14-10, 11-6 NCAC), the Scots are now in sole possession of second-place in the NCAC. Wooster has a half-game lead on Wittenberg and a one-game lead on Ohio Wesleyan. The Scots are guaranteed a top-four seed for the NCAC Tournament.

Wooster wraps up the regular season with a 7 p.m. game at Wittenberg on Saturday, February 19. The meeting is the 124th all-time between NCAA Div. III's two winningest teams.