Jeremy Ludemann
Senior Sports Writer
The clock at Wittenberg University’s Pam Evans Smith Arena read 5:15. Wooster’s early double-digit lead was gone, and their archrivals, the Wittenberg Tigers, trimmed the double-digit Scot advantage to just three at 58-55.
When it seemed like the Tigers were ready to complete the comeback and claim their biggest win of the season, the second-ranked Wooster men’s basketball team sharpened their defense and went on to earn a 68-62 triumph over ninth-ranked Wittenberg on Saturday.
In their last game, a 94-71 win over Hiram, the Scots only trailed 2-0 in the first minute of the contest before dominating the rest of the matchup. However, the Scots had a much tougher challenge in the Tigers, who entered the contest after suffering a 72-46 setback at DePauw University on Wednesday.
The start of the game was characterized by an offensive scoring affair between Wooster’s guards and Wittenberg’s post players. Wittenberg surged ahead 13-8 with 11:25 left in the first half, when Wooster turned the tables on the Tigers and went on a 26-6 run that resulted in a 34-19 halftime lead for the Black and Old Gold.
The Scots were sparked by a fabulous defensive effort in the final 11 minutes of the first, as they held Wittenberg to 12.5 percent shooting and forced nine Tiger turnovers. Wooster turned the home team’s miscues into points, with Scott Purcell ’14 contributing six of his team-high 14 points during the run.
Although the Scots were on pace for a blowout victory, the Tigers were not going to go gently into the bitter cold Clark County night. Wittenberg’s numerous halftime adjustments, which included a 2-3 zone on defense and the inclusion of six-foot-nine behemoth freshman center Brock Keisler on offense, proved successful against Wooster, as Wittenberg began their rapid comeback by making it more challenging for Wooster to drive the basket.
Furthermore, Keisler’s height proved to be a challenge for Josh Kipfer ’16 and Dan Fanelly ’17, who were also plagued by foul trouble. Keisler, a Wittenberg freshman from Louisville, Ky., contributed 11 points off of the bench, while the other center, Scott Masin, also heated up in the second half, scoring 11 out of his total of 17 points in the final 20 minutes of the contest. After Steven Newell sank two free throws to draw the Tigers to a 58-55 deficit at the 5:15 mark of the game, Wooster turned to their three seniors to clinch the victory. Kenny DeBoer ’14 was the first Scot to provide some heroics by sinking a three-pointer to increase the Wooster lead to 61-55 with five minutes left in the affair. After an inside finish from Wittenberg’s Keisler to trim the Tiger deficit to four, Doug Thorpe ’14 hit his lone trifecta of the evening to put Wooster up by seven, 64-57, with 4:12 to play.
A defensive mistake by the Scots led to a streaking lay-in by Tiger freshman forward Shane Edwards. With Wittenberg down by five, the Tigers pounced on their advantage in the paint, as Scott Masin drew a foul and headed to the free throw stripe.
After making one out of two from the line, Masin gathered his own offensive rebound but then inadvertently used his shoulder to establish position inside, which led to the officials calling him for an offensive foul. The call drew the ire of the Wittenberg fans and gave Wooster the opportunity to win the game at the line with two shots from Kipfer. The sophomore from Wadsworth converted both free throws, and Brown followed with his own free throws after Wittenberg failed to hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the rivalry thriller.
When the clock at Smith Arena hit triple zeroes and the buzzer sounded, the Scots were able to stem the red tide of the Tigers and gain a two-game advantage over Wittenberg, DePauw and Ohio Wesleyan University in the NCAC standings near the halfway mark of the conference season.
“The big thing we did to stop the comeback was just to stay poised and not panic. We just needed to dig deeper and get some stops on defense,” said Purcell.
On Wednesday after press time, Wooster took on Allegheny (3-12, 0-8 NCAC). Tomorrow, the second ranked Scots will vie to continue their winning ways on the road against DePauw (11-4, 6-2 NCAC). Game time from Greencastle, Ind. is set for 1 p.m.