Wooster Pulls Away from Yeshiva, 85-64

WOOSTER, Ohio – Senior Ashton Price scored 13 of his game-high 26 points during The College of Wooster men's basketball team's 17-2 second-half run, and that enabled the Fighting Scots to pull away from Yeshiva University, 85-64, on Sunday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (1-0) and Yeshiva (1-1) were tied at 37 at the half, and that changed quickly. Junior Jaiden Cox-Holloway's corner 3-pointer just 10 seconds into the second half gave the Scots a lead that was not relinquished.

Wooster's lead was 41-40 when Price caught fire, hitting a trio of triples during the 17-2 stretch. Price added a signature driving layup and a turnaround jumper during the run, which saw Wooster's advantage grow to 58-42 at the 13:42 mark.

Wooster's other points during the run came from a Nick Everett layup and a Cox-Holloway stick back. Defensively, senior Jamir Billings and junior EJ Kapihe had steals during the decisive stretch.

The Scots' lead reached 21 at 81-60 with 3:37 on the clock. Cox-Holloway poked the ball away from Max Zakheim and made the fast-break dunk. Prior to that, Price hit a turnaround jumper and made a floater from outside the paint to twice put Wooster up 19.

In the first half, Wooster led by as many as nine, taking a 28-19 lead on a pair of free throws from sophomore Robbie Cass. Wooster trailed just twice in the first half and tied the game at 37 on two Billings free throws with 10 seconds on the clock.

Price's 26 points were one off a career-high and moved him past 925 for his career. The senior went 10-of-19 from the floor and added five rebounds and an assist. Cox-Holloway followed with 18 points, which were two off his career-best. Cox-Holloway was 7-of-11 from the floor and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. Cox-Holloway's six rebounds were the game-high.

Other key stats included 11 points, four steals, four rebounds, and three assists from Billings, while senior JJ Cline's five assists were the team-high.

Wooster shot 50.8 percent (32-of-63) from the floor, 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc, and had a 40-28 advantage in rebounds. Points in the paint favored Wooster 44-28, and the Scots scored 26 points off 19 Maccabees' turnovers.

Zevi Samet and Yoav Oselka scored 14 points each for Yeshiva. Samet's 14 points were over eight below his 22.3 career per-game average. The Scots held Samet to just 4-of-16 from the floor.

As a team, Yeshiva shot 40 percent (22-of-55) and made just 3-of-20 3-pointers (15 percent).

Next, Wooster plays at Otterbein University (0-0) at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 17.

Photo courtesy of University of South Carolina athletics.