Ian Franks

Ian Franks scored a career-high 33 points, including 24 in the second half when he led a comeback that saw The College of Wooster transform deficits of 45-33 with 15:47 to play and 59-51 with 5:40 remaining into a 69-68 victory at Allegheny College in the teams' North Coast Athletic Conference match-up at Meadville, Pa., Wednesday night.

After falling behind by 12 a little over four minutes into the second, Franks would account for all 13 points of a 13-2 spurt as Wooster (10-4, 5-0 NCAC) quickly got back into it. The Fighting Scots scored on every offensive possession of that stretch, with Franks making 6-of-6 field goal attempts plus a free throw.

Allegheny (6-7, 3-2 NCAC) recovered, holding on to the lead and eventually building it back up to the aforementioned eight, thanks to seven points during a four-minute run that saw Wooster go scoreless.

The Scots' second big run of the game consisted of five points by Nathan Balch, four from Franks, and three-straight defensive stops. A Franks' lay-up at the 3:47 mark gave Wooster a 60-59 lead – its first since it had been 11-10 in the early going.

On the ensuing possession, the Gators answered with a pair of free throws to go back up (61-60), and the squads would continue to go back-and-forth as Matt Fegan drained a 3-pointer for the Scots, followed by a Craig Devinney three-point play that put the hosts ahead 64-63 with a little over 2:00 to go.

Wooster then went to Franks, who drew a foul and sunk both shots from the charity stripe for a 65-64 lead with 1:31 on the clock.

Neither offense would score again until Allegheny was forced to foul, following a turnover with just :10 ticks left. During the final moments, Fegan and Franks each made 2-of-2 free throws and the Scots' defense did not allow the Gators to get off a potential tying 3-point attempt, opting to foul them instead.

In the first half, Allegheny outscored Wooster 20-11 the last 10 minutes to take a 37-28 lead into the break.

Overall, both teams struggled significantly from 3-point range as the Scots shot just 4-for-25 (.160) and the Gators were only marginally better at .188 (3-for-16). Wooster was under 40 percent overall from the field (.390; 23-for-59), but made up for it with a very efficient night at the foul line – 86.4 percent (19-for-22).

Allegheny finished with a rate of an even 50 percent (25-for-50) from the floor and outrebounded the Scots 33-31, but committed 13 turnovers to Wooster's eight.

Franks' career night came on 11-of-19 field goals (7-for-9 in the second half) and 10-of-11 free throws (all in the second half). The junior guard previously had a pair of 29-point outings.

Also in double figures were Balch and Bryan Wickliffe with 13 and 10 points, respectively, while Brandon Johnson contributed a game-high four assists. Justin Hallowell paced the Scots on the boards with eight.

George Raftis put up a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Gators.

Wooster will be home this Saturday afternoon, as it welcomes Earlham College (3-11, 1-4 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium for a 1 p.m. tip-off.