Wooster 89, Ohio Wesleyan 80
Senior wing Tim Brady (Dublin/Jerome) and junior guard Andy Winters (Columbus/Bishop Watterson) combined for 27 second-half points as third-seeded Ohio Wesleyan pared a 19-point deficit to just 5 points with more than 2 minutes to play, but second-seeded Wooster withstood the Bishop rally and held on for a win in a semifinal matchup of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament on Friday in Springfield.
Wooster advances to the tournament championship game to face fifth-seeded Denison, which upset host Wittenberg, 66-58, in Friday's nightcap. The winner of the Denison-Wooster game will claim the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament, while Ohio Wesleyan and Wittenberg will look for at-large invitations. The tournament bracket is scheduled to be released on Monday.
The Fighting Scots broke a 10-10 tie with a 3-pointer by Matt Fegan, but junior wing Vaughn Spaulding (Reynoldsburg) pulled the Bishops within 13-12 with a lay-in.
Wooster then reeled off the next 10 points, collecting a pair of Xavier Brown free throws, lay-ins by Jalen Goodwin and Jake Mays, and a lay-in and a pair of free throws by Josh Claytor to take a 23-12 lead with 9:28 left in the first half.
Sophomore wing Dre White (Lima/Bath) ended the Bishops' 4-minute scoring drought with a lay-in and followed with a 3-pointer shortly thereafter, and Ohio Wesleyan narrowed the gap to 7 points at the intermission.
The Bishops were within 6 points at 47-41 after a Brady 3-point play when Wooster started to heat up from the outside. Three-pointers by Fegan and Doug Thorpe pushed the Scot lead back into double digits, and when Fegan, Justin Hallowell, Evan Pannell, and Hallowell again connected from long range in a span of 2-1/2 minutes, Wooster had stretched a 56-48 lead into a 68-50 margin at the midway point of the second half.
Wooster still led, 77-63, with just over 4 minutes left in regulation time when the Bishops made things interesting. A pair of free throws and a lay-in from Winters cut the deficit to 10 points, and junior guard Eric Easley (Worthington/Thomas Worthington) followed with a 3-pointer.
White's lay-in with 2:12 remaining pulled the Bishops within 77-72, but that was as close as Ohio Wesleyan would come as Wooster was able to seal the game at the free throw line.
Brady led the Bishops with 18 points, while Winters finished with 17. Junior post Marshall Morris (Tulsa, Okla./Jenks) posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and White added 15 points.
Fegan finished with 17 points to lead a quintet of Scots in double figures.
Box Score
