For 14 straight years, the menís basketball team has won at least 20 games, the longest active streak in Div. III. The team has reached the NCAA Tournament in 14 of the past 15 seasons, and has now won six straight regular season titles. Success is supposed to be difficult, but the Scots have made winning seem as regular as Metamucil. The Scotsí run to the ìSweet Sixteen” showed why the Scots have been so consistent, and why coach Steve Mooreís empire shows no signs of slowing down.
For the second year in a row, Mooreís young team started slowly. Beginning the season ranked No. 9, the team was just 5-4 in mid-December, dropping them out of the national rankings. From there, however, the Scots found their rhythm and never looked back, reeling off 20 victories in their next 21 games.
The greatest moment of the season came on Feb. 27 in the NCAC Championship against Wittenberg University. Two weeks before, the underdog Tigers ó out to prove that the Wooster-Wittenberg rivalry had not become a one-sided affair ó came into Timken Gymnasium and stunned the Scots 67-56. The Scots committed 18 turnovers and gave an unfocused and uninspiring performance. Two weeks later, the team bounced back and responded with its best performance of the season ó winning 88-77.
For the third time in four years, the Scots captured the NCAC Championship on their home floor. This time, the lone senior, point guard Brandon Johnson í10, was the last one to cut down the nets. The year before, that honor had gone to Johnsonís former teammate and roommate, forward Marty Bidwell í09.
The Scots opened the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament on their home floor. After a relatively sloppy 63-52 win over Grove City College in the first round, the Scots played their second round game against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Warhawks, ranked No. 8 in the country, boasted the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year in 6-9 center Dustin Mitchell, the WIAC Coach of the Year Pat Miller, and another explosive scorer guard in Dupree Fletcher. On paper, even on their home floor, the Scots were heavy underdogs ó facing worse odds than the Healthcare bill.
The Scots, however, played with more focus and, quite frankly, more heart. Behind a 30-point effort by Ian Franks í11, the Scots gained a 22-21 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half. Mitchell, the Warhawksí star, fouled out with just 14 points. Miller turned in a memorable coaching performance and was ejected from the game with two technical fouls.
A week later, facing an even taller order, the Scots couldnít quite sustain their success. In their regional semifinal against No. 3 Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., the Scots looked nervous early as the Quakers scored the gameís first 12 points and jumped out to a 40-22 lead at halftime. At that point, the heavy underdogs could have mailed in the second half. The Scots, however, finally found their groove in the second half ó using a 19-4 run to trim the Guilford lead down to five. The Quakers eventually held on 75-68, but the Scots proved that they more than belonged on the same floor as the No. 3 team in the nation, leaving many to wonder how the game would have turned out if only the Scots had set their alarms before halftime.
It is the fifth time in six years that Wooster had won at least one NCAA Tournament game. Franks was the fourth Scot in five years to be named NCAC Player of the Year. The six straight NCAC regular season crowns sets a new record. If this is supposed to be difficult, Moore and his squad arenít letting on.
Thatís whatís most astounding about the run. In a college game where players graduate and move on every four years, success isnít supposed to be guaranteed. With every two or three championships, thereís an expected down year. Thatís not the case here. The players make their postseason travel plans in December. Moore and his staff have set the bar high and the team is able to meet these expectations every year.
The teamís run to the ìSweet Sixteen” only sets up the road to the Final Four for next year. Like last season, the team loses just one senior. Johnson, the fifth-year point guard, will likely be replaced in the starting lineup by Matt Fegan í12, who shared the ball handling duties with Johnson this year.
The growth of rising sophomores Josh Claytor í13 and Jake Mays í13 will only increase the teamís depth in the frontcourt. Next yearís team should be even more balanced than this yearís version.
The team can probably start making travel plans for early March 2011.