Rebounding, Unselfish Play Carries Scots Past Terriers, 87-73

WOOSTER, Ohio – An awe-inspiring, unselfish game of team basketball propelled The College of Wooster men's basketball team to an 87-73 win over Hiram College in the programs' North Coast Athletic Conference opener on Wednesday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

Rebounding, specifically on the offensive end, was at the forefront of Wooster's (3-1, 1-0 NCAC) win. The Fighting Scots corralled 39 boards to the Terriers' (3-4, 0-1 NCAC) 24, and Wooster flat out bullied Hiram 14-2 on the offensive end. That led to a 22-2 runaway in second-chance points. Twelve of the Scots' 22 points there came on direct stick-backs, five of which came in the first half.

When not controlling the offensive glass, Wooster had no trouble finding the open shooter or cutter, resulting in an impressive 23 assists on 28 non-stick-back buckets. Senior Najee Hardaway passed out a team-high seven assists, and sophomore Jamir Billings added six. In all, five Scots dished out multiple helpers on the night, and that aided in 12 three-pointers, the most in a game by Wooster since nailing 14 against DePauw University on February 13, 2021.

The Billings clinic started out the night for Wooster, as the Scots' star point guard dropped in the team's first 11 points. Nine of them came on triples, which all came in a three-possession span, and each three-ball had a Wooster assist credited on the make. However, Hiram's offensive firepower kept pace, and the Terriers led by as many as four before senior Turner Kurt's layup on a Billings' assist gave the Scots the lead for good at 31-29 with 6:28 left in the opening half.

Hiram's lone second-chance bucket of the night had the Terriers within 53-51 with 14:06 to go, then Wooster put the game out of reach with a 13-0 run. Junior Jake Hoffman cashed in junior Carter Warstler's pass for a three-pointer, then Warstler hit a three of his own following an offensive board. Later in the run, Billings hit his fourth triple of the night, and that came not long after his second steal of the scoring spree. Hoffman's layup following a lead pass from Billings capped the stretch with the Scots lead ballooning to 66-51 at the 10:28 mark.

Billings backed his game- and season-high 20 points up with a season-high 10 rebounds, giving the sophomore point guard three career games with double-digit boards. Kurt was next with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, and followed Billings in rebounding with six. Hoffman rode three triples to 11 points, while Hardaway rounded out the Scots in double figures in the scoring column at 10 points.

Wooster shot 49.3 percent (34-of-69), was a locked-in 41.4 percent from deep (12-of-29), and forced 18 Hiram turnovers.

Kevin Beans Jr. and Dushawn Hill scored 17 points apiece for Hiram. Doug Sartain added 13. The Terriers shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57), were 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) on three-pointers, and blocked six shots, with Ricky Esdel's length on the interior resulting in four of those.

Next, Wooster's at DePauw (7-1, 1-0 NCAC) for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, December 3.