WOOSTER, Ohio – Hard work and hustle enabled The College of Wooster men's basketball team to hang in with seventh-ranked University of Rochester, but in the end, the Fighting Scots could not keep pace with the Yellowjackets' torrid shooting in Saturday's 91-80 loss at Timken Gymnasium.
Both teams were locked in early, with Rochester (9-1) hitting its first 11 shots from the field. Ironically, the Yellowjackets' opening stretch of 8:53 not missing was within 30 seconds of last Saturday's game-closing sequence of DePauw University not making a field goal in Wooster's (5-2) 68-54 win.
Wooster was up to the task against Rochester, hitting 9-of-12 from the floor during the Yellowjackets' perfect stretch. Junior Elijah Meredith drilled a trio of three-pointers, classmate JJ Cline dominated down low with three layups, and sophomore Jamir Billings' assist counter was already at four before the first-half clock hit 14:00.
Wooster, which was within 27-23 when Rochester finally missed, tied the game at 29 on senior Turner Kurt's layup with 9:22 on the clock. Meredith hit his fourth triple of the half at the 8:05 mark to edge Wooster ahead 32-31.
The Scots' best stretch started with 3:21 remaining in the first half. Junior Nick Everett continued to pose matchup problems in the low post and drew his fifth foul of the contest prior to making both free throws. A second-chance Everett stick-back at the 2:56 mark bumped Wooster ahead 45-43, then junior Carter Warstler's corner triple off Kurt's fourth assist made it 48-45. Matt Wiele's go-ahead driving layup with :39 remaining made it a 49-48 Rochester lead at the half.
While Wooster did not lead in the second half, the Scots did pull within two. Billings found Everett in the paint for a layup - and the guard's 11th assist - at the 14:42 mark, and that had Wooster within 59-57. Senior Najee Hardaway's driving layup on the next possession kept it a one-possession deficit. Later, Billings knocked down a jumper with 12:59 remaining to trim the Yellowjackets' lead to 64-61.
Wooster's biggest hustle play came with just over four minutes left. Kurt deflected Ross Gang's pass towards Wooster teammates, and the battle for the loose ball was eventually won by first-year Vinni Veikalas, who hustled to the corner to save it from going out of bounds. However, Wooster was unable to come away with points following the hustle play, and a judgment call class-B flopping technical dampened the Scots' momentum in the final minutes.
Meredith led five Scots in double figures with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, which included a 4-of-7 afternoon from three-point land. Everett's 16 points were one off a career-high, and he led the Scots with six rebounds. Cline's career-high 14 points came on 6-of-7 shooting, and he was a perfect 6-of-6 in the paint. Hardaway (12) and Kurt (10) rounded out the Scots who hit double-digit points.
Billings matched his single-game school record with 12 assists and he was next in rebounding at five. The 12 assists marked just the third time in program history a Scot passed out a dozen.
Wooster shot 50.8 percent (30-of-59) from the floor, had 18 second-chance points to Rochester's four, and turned 12 Yellowjacket turnovers into 18 points.
Gang and Dan Masino scored 21 points apiece for Rochester. The Yellowjackets finished with a 66.7 percent (32-of-48) field-goal percentage. They missed just seven shots during the first half, which saw Rochester hit at 73.1 percent.
Next, Wooster hosts the Steve Moore Sunshine Shootout at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Wooster opens against Emerson College (Massachusetts) (5-3) at 3 p.m. on Monday, December 19. Augsburg University (Minnesota) (2-7) and 15th-ranked Calvin University (Michigan) 7-1 open the two-day tournament at 1 p.m.