Chloe Burdette
Editor in Chief
Playing against Wittenberg University during a normal season is no easy feat for The College of Wooster men’s basketball team, but add the fear of a pandemic, lack of practice time and no fans into the mix and you have an even bigger obstacle to overcome.
Over the weekend, the Fighting Scots played against the Tigers in two exhibition games that both ended in close calls down to the final buzzer.
In game one on Friday night at Timken Gymnasium, multiple first-year players were able to make names for themselves, as Aaron Whitehead ’24 scored a significant 11 points, Carter Warstler ’24 snagged four rebounds and Elijah Meredith ’24 scored his own seven points. The Wooster bench was a surprising key factor as the non-starters accounted for 36 points — over half of the team’s overall points in the contest.
Also noteworthy in the game were Brandon Styers ’22 who contributed 10 points, and Najee Hardaway ’22 who added an impressive six rebounds. Keonn Scott ’21 was the victor in overall points with 14.
Without the infectious energy from fans at huge rivalry games against Wittenberg, this time has been a weird adjustment for the team. “With it being the very first game back since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, it felt a little weird with no fans out there,” Scott said. “We mainly had to just accept that we won’t have any fans, which is tough.” The first game ended in a three-point deficit for the Fighting Scots with a final score of 70-67.
For game two, the Fighting Scots travelled to Wittenberg University and were looking to get their revenge.
The energy of the game was similar to that of the night before, as both teams were neck and neck up until the last minute of play. With 16 seconds left in the game, Tayler McNeal ’23 secured two foul shots to get a solid 79-75 lead. Without a second thought, Wittenberg answered with a late three-pointer to make the score 79-78.
Luckily, Wooster’s Styers finished the effort with a late steal and was fouled, earning the Scots another two shots at the line which Styers sank to secure the 81-79 finish.
Styers applauded both teams for their perseverance in both exhibition games, and noted Wooster’s adaptation from Friday night to Saturday night.
“I think the difference in outcome on Saturday as opposed to Friday was that we were able to be more efficient on offense and were able to make big defensive plays towards the final minutes of the game to capture the win,” Styers said. “Wittenberg played very well by using their size and high-powered offense to their advantage.”
Although this was deemed an exhibition game, this is technically the first win for new head coach Doug Cline. The team is already strategizing to get another win in the bag as they play DePauw this week.
“[DePauw] has a significant number of their players returning this year, so they will have a lot of team experience,” Styers stated. “The biggest game plan going into this game is playing hard and focusing on improving together as a team.”
Wooster will next play DePauw University at Timken Gymnasium on both Saturday, Feb. 13 at 3:00 p.m. and on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 1:00 p.m. Roll Scots!