Box Score
Ohio Wesleyan 82, Wooster 81
Freshman guard Henry Hinkle (Powell/Olentangy Liberty) scored Ohio Wesleyan's last 9 points, including a pair of free throws with :04.0 left in regulation time that gave the Bishops the lead, and Ohio Wesleyan held off a potential game-winning possession for a North Coast Athletic Conference win over Wooster on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena, handing the Fighting Scots their first conference defeat of the season.
Wooster had taken a 73-63 lead when Turner Kurt tipped in his own missed shot with 4:50 left in regulation time.
Ohio Wesleyan came back by scoring the next 7 points of the game, collecting a pair of free throws from junior post Grant Spicer (Cincinnati/Lakota East), a Hinkle 3-pointer, and a fast-break lay-in by freshman wing David Rice (Brook Park/Parma Padua Franciscan) off a Hinkle feed to pull within 73-70.
The Fighting Scots pushed the lead back to 5 points on a pair of free throws from Najee Hardaway made it 77-72 with 2:51 to play.
Sophomore wing Reece Mitchell (Wooster) hit the second of 2 free throws with 2:24 left, and Hinkle drove for a lay-in that made it 77-75 with 1:20 to go. After getting a stop on the defensive end, the Bishops took a 78-77 lead when Hinkle connected from downtown with :48 remaining.
Hardaway answered with a jumper to give the lead back to Wooster, but Hinkle drove the lane for a lay-in and an 80-79 Ohio Wesleyan lead with :15 remaining.
Wooster's Brandon Styers drew a foul with :04.8 remaining and sank both free throws to put the visitors ahead, 81-80.
Hinkle received the inbounds pass and was fouled in the backcourt, and hit both free throws to make it 82-81.
The Fighting Scots got the ball upcourt and found Carter Warstler in the left corner for a potential game-winning 3-pointer, but the shot was off the mark.
Hinkle had opened the game's scoring with a 3-pointer during the first minute of play, and it remained a one-possession game for most of the first half. Kurt sank a free throw with 2:27 left in the period for a 36-32 lead, and Wooster would go 6-for-6 from the line during the final 2 minutes to take a 42-37 lead at the break.
The Bishops tied the game early in the second half as senior post Nick Carlson (Dublin/Coffman) converted a 3-point play and drove for a lay-in, and again it remained a one-possession game for the majority of the half, this time until Wooster's Jamir Billings hit a pair of free throws for a 64-60 lead with 7:24 to go.
Shortly thereafter, the Scots went on a 9-0 run that included a 3-pointer and a 3-point play from Styers, setting up the visitors' 10-point lead and the Bishop comeback.
Hinkle led the Bishops with 19 points. Rice finished with a season-high 18 points, Carlson had 16 points and shared the team lead with 7 rebounds, and Spicer added 14 points. Mitchell shared the team lead with 7 rebounds and sophomore guard Joey Duke (Marysville) led the team with 4 assists.
Billings scored 25 points to lead Wooster.
Box Score
