Scots Go Cold as Decades-Long Streak Snapped

OBERLIN, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's basketball team could not find its shooting rhythm on Saturday afternoon at Philips Gymnasium, and as a result, Oberlin College snapped the Fighting Scots' remarkable 60-game series winning streak with a 71-68 victory.

Wooster (15-4, 9-2 North Coast Athletic Conference) cut its deficit to 67-65 on sophomore Jamir Billings' pullup three-pointer with just inside a minute remaining. The Scots elected to play for the stop on the ensuing possession, and senior Najee Hardaway had Oberlin's (6-14, 2-9 NCAC) Andrew Gannon well covered. That did not stop a driving Gannon from hoisting a floater, and the guard had the shooter's touch on a 10-footer in the key that upped the lead back to four with :36 remaining.

Hardaway found junior Elijah Meredith for a jumper following an offensive rebound with :19 remaining, and the Scots nearly came away with a turnover on the Yeomen's press break before junior JJ Cline was forced to foul. Anastasis Spyroglou split the pair at the stripe, giving Wooster a chance for the tie. A whistle came in for a Yeomen reach-in on Hardaway as the guard's pass was making its way to Billings on the wing, keeping Wooster from getting a game-tying three-pointer off. Wooster was unable to secure the board on Hardaway's intentional free throw miss, but a split pair at the charity stripe by Dorde Otasevic gave Wooster a chance for the tie at the buzzer. Wooster's entry pass went to junior Nick Everett, who outworked his defender inside the arc, before Meredith's game-tying look was off the mark.

Wooster briefly took the lead with 7:38 to go, as Meredith's three-pointer fully erased Oberlin's 14-point halftime advantage. Dimitrije Radusinovic answered with a triple of his own, and the best the Scots could manage was just one tie the rest of the way.

Everett's physicality was the second half's focal point, and he had Wooster in the bonus for the final 12:29. The junior went 8-of-10 at the charity stripe, made both his field goals to give him 12 second-half points, and had five rebounds in that stretch.

Hardaway's ability to penetrate, score at the rim, and convert at the charity stripe kept Oberlin from running away with the first half. The senior dropped in 13 of the Scots' 25 first-half points, but outside of Hardaway, Wooster was just 3-of-22 from the floor as a team in the opening 20 minutes.

Hardaway's 17 points led Wooster, while Everett followed with 13. Kurt's nine rebounds were tops in the game, and five of them came on the offensive end.

Wooster shot just 29.7 percent (19-of-64) from the floor, was 6-of-30 on three-pointers, and held a slight 45-43 edge in rebounding.

Yuuki Okubo's 14 points led Oberlin, but he did have an outlier in turnovers at four. The NCAA Div. III leader in assists per turnover at 6.17 has logged nine of his 22 turnovers in the two outings against Wooster.

Oberlin, which won against Wooster for the first time since February 6, 1988, shot 43.4 percent (26-of-60) from the field and had seven blocked shots.

Wooster will look to bounce back at Kenyon College (7-13, 0-11 NCAC) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 1.

photo by Anna Russell '23