Cold Shooting Snaps No. 6 Wooster’s Winning Streak at 11

WOOSTER, Ohio – Sixth-ranked College of Wooster men's basketball was within 58-57 with 5:59 remaining, but could not overcome an off night in the shooting department, which resulted in a 69-61 loss against Babson College on Monday evening at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (11-1), which shot just 36.5 percent (23-of-63) from the floor, was denied its third 12-0 start. Senior Jamir Billings, who earned the E.M. "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic Most Outstanding Defensive Player honor, finished the two-day tournament with seven steals. He was one of Wooster's bright spots with 22 points and 10 rebounds, for his second double-double of the week. First-year Breckman Oakley earned a spot on the all-tournament team, in large part for his play on Sunday, and he had seven points in Monday's game.

Wooster's best stretch came early in the first half, when a 10-0 run gave the Fighting Scots a 15-10 lead. Junior Jaiden Cox-Holloway hit a pair of triples during the run, and the first came following a steal by the forward. Oakley had a driving layup at 15:29 that pulled Wooster within 10-9, while the first of the Cox-Holloway triples gave Wooster its first lead at 12-10 with 15:20 left in the opening half.

Babson's (6-4) 10-2 stretch late in the first half pulled the Beavers ahead for good. All-tournament team honoree Alex Stoddard's floater at 4:35 gave the Beavers a 32-25 lead. Wooster trimmed the deficit to four, thanks to a Billings steal-turned-senior Nick Everett layup that pulled the Scots within 33-29. However, Babson carried a 37-31 lead into halftime.

Wooster was within 37-36 on Billings' driving layup at the second half's 18:39 mark. The Scots did not get back within one until Wooster's point guard knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:59 to go. Billings' triple capped a 7-0 stretch that saw Everett make a layup following a senior JJ Cline lob down low. Everett went on to make a pair of free throws.

Everett backed Billings up with 15 points. Cline dished out a team-high four assists. Billings' 10 rebounds were followed by seven from Cox-Holloway.

All-tournament team honoree Nate Amado's 24 points led all players. Babson's leading scorer was followed by Most Valuable Player Felix Kloman's 16 points, three steals, and three blocked shots.

Babson shot 46.4 percent (26-of-56) for the game.

In Monday's opener, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford defeated Case Western Reserve University 102-97 in a thrilling game that saw 14 ties and 11 lead changes. All-tournament team honoree Jamarion Butler scored 31 points and had 13 rebounds to lead Bradford (9-1). CWRU (4-7) was led by all-tournament team honoree Sam Trunley's 29 points. Umar Rashid added 23 points for the Spartans.

Next, Div. III's greatest rivalry takes center stage, as the 130th Wooster-Wittenberg University game takes place at 7 p.m. at Timken Gymnasium on Saturday, January 4. The two teams are the two winningest programs in NCAA Div. III history and Wooster is riding an eight-game winning streak in the series, tied for the longest between the archrivals.