No. 10 Wooster Unable to Get Going in Crawfordsville

CRAWFORDSVILLE, Indiana – Tenth-ranked College of Wooster men's basketball could not make shots when it needed to, and while Wabash College struggled just as much in the shooting department, free throws were the difference in the Little Giants' 54-48 win over the Fighting Scots on Saturday afternoon at Chadwick Court.

Wabash (8-6, 4-1 North Coast Athletic Conference) was 20-of-23 at the line, including 14-of-17 before Wooster (13-2, 5-1 NCAC) was forced to foul in the closing seconds. That led to the Little Giants outscoring the Scots 20-9 for the game at the stripe. Neither team shot over 33 percent, with the squads combining for a 31-of-98 afternoon from the floor.

First-year Breckman Oakley was Wooster's offensive bright spot, scoring 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting, which included a 3-of-5 showing from beyond the arc. Twelve of Oakley's points came in the second half. He scored Wooster's first points of the stanza on an open triple to pull the Scots within 27-22 at 15:07. Two possessions later, Oakley was dialed in again from range, knocking a 3-ball down when junior EJ Kapihe found the first-year open to make it 29-27.

Oakley's third triple came with 6:28 on the clock and had Wooster within 38-36. Wabash's defense elected to ramp up the pressure on senior Jamir Billings, and that enabled Oakley to move to the corner for the open look. Later, Oakley's driving layup at 3:50 had Wooster within 43-42.

Senior Nick Everett's steadiness at the free throw line helped Wooster stay in the game. The forward knocked down 8-of-9 as part of a game-high 15 points. His first 3-pointer of the season tied the conference clash at six, marking Wooster's lone time either tied or in the lead on the afternoon.

The pivotal separation sequences came with about 30 seconds remaining. First, Wabash's Vinny Buccilla's Euro-step layup made it a two-possession game at 48-44. Next, a Wooster offensive foul on a screen gave Wabash the ball right back, and sent the Scots into foul mode. The Little Giants made all six of their free throws in the final 23.2 seconds.

Junior Jaiden Cox-Holloway led Wooster with seven rebounds. He was followed by Billings and Everett, who both had six. Billings had two early steals.

Noah Hupmann shut down Wooster at the rim for the majority of the game. The Little Giants' rim protector blocked four shots and secured a game-high 10 rebounds. Randy Kelley dropped in a team-high 13 points off the bench for the Little Giants, who also received 12 points from Josh Whack.

Wooster shot 30.8 percent (16-of-52) for the game and held a slight 36-34 rebounding edge. Wabash was just a touch better from the floor at 32.6 percent (15-of-46). The Little Giants had 10 turnovers to 13 for the Scots.

Wooster returns to action on Saturday, January 18 with a 3 p.m. game at Ohio Wesleyan University (8-6, 3-2 NCAC).