Wooster Makes It an Outright NCAC Championship Via 69-50 Win at Hiram

Behind a 24-5 stretch in the first half, The College of Wooster, ranked 19th in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, clinched its sixth outright North Coast Athletic Conference championship in a row as the Fighting Scots defeated Hiram College 69-50 on Wednesday night at Price Gymnasium in Hiram, Ohio. Wooster's streak of NCAC titles is the longest in the conference's 26-year history, having surpassed the 1990-94 Wittenberg University squads.

With just three regular season games remaining, Wooster (18-4, 13-0 NCAC) continues to hold a four-game advantage over a trio of second-place teams, which are 9-4 in league play.

Though it was a single-digit game through the opening 10 minutes, the Scots never trailed against Hiram (10-12, 7-6 NCAC). Ahead 12-11 at the 12:30 mark, Wooster began to gain some separation by netting nine unanswered points, the last five courtesy of Nathan Balch for a 10-point advantage (21-11).

The Scots would continue to build momentum, adding a 10-0 run not long after to complete the aforementioned 24-5 stretch for a 36-16 lead at that juncture. The 10 unanswered points featured seven by Ian Franks.

Wooster was doubling-up the Terriers at the halftime break, 44-22.

In the second, the Scots maintained a double-digit cushion throughout, although Hiram did manage to pull within 14 (57-43) at the 5:38 mark. Balch responded with his fourth 3-pointer of the evening and Wooster rolled from there to the 19-point victory.

Statistically, the biggest difference in the game was the Scots' rebounding advantage (44-21). Wooster shot slightly under 50 percent from the field (.479; 23-for-48), which helped offset 21 turnovers, 14 of which came during the second half, and the defense helped limit the Terriers to a 33.3 percent shooting from the floor (16-for-48).

Franks led all players with 17 points, the majority of which came at the free throw line (10-for-13), while Bryan Wickliffe notched his second double-double in three games, this time recording 10 points and a game-high 10 boards. Balch's efficient night from the field (5-for-9), which included 4-of-7 3-pointers, resulted in 14 points.

Chris Roberts paced the hosts in the scoring column with 13 markers.

Next, Wooster welcomes arch-rival Wittenberg University (17-5, 9-4 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium on Saturday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.