Thomas Pitney
Sports Editor
On Sunday, Jan. 30, the Wooster Fighting Scots men’s basketball team faced perhaps its greatest challenge of the season in the Wabash College Little Giants. Wabash had rattled off 10 straight wins prior to facing the Scots. Despite the Little Giants’ success, Wooster could flip the script in the NCAC with a win, as Wabash held a slim half-game lead over Wooster going into the game. Unfortunately for the Scots, Wabash tightened its grip on the NCAC regular season title, defeating Wooster 94-80.
Coming into the game with an overall record of 14-3, an in-conference record of 9-1 and a 10-game winning streak under their belts, the Little Giants have proven that they are a top contender to win the NCAC. Turner Kurt ’23 noted that “[Wabash is] very talented offensively and very efficient.” Despite the challenge, the Scots had every reason to be confident, as their 9-2 in-conference record meant that a win would allow them to overtake Wabash in the NCAC standings. Understanding the implications of the game, Wooster took it to the Little Giants in the early minutes. Just over five minutes into the game, the Scots took a 16-8 lead on the back of Najee Hardaway’s ’22 five points and one assist, Elijah Meredith’s ’24 three-point jump shot, Carter Warstler’s ’24 steal-turned-layup and Kurt’s five points and two rebounds.
In response to the Scots’ early success, Wabash made a pair of three-pointers, drew a foul and made two free throws to tie the game at 16-16 with 13:27 remaining in the first half. After a 30-second timeout, the Scots regrouped on their next possession, as Hardaway connected on a shot from downtown to once again give Wooster a lead at 19-16. Throughout the middle of the first half, Wooster and Wabash traded blows. Tied at 26-26, with 8:54 left in the first half, it seemed as though neither team would take control of the game. However, over the next four-and-a-half minutes, Wabash did just that, going on an 18-4 run and taking a 44-30 lead with 4:17 to go in the first half. Despite the sudden and unfortunate turn of events for the Scots, Wooster continued to battle to the very end of the first half, as Jamir Billings ’25 swished a half-court buzzer-beater to cut the Wabash halftime lead to 51-38.
Fired up by the buzzer-beater and the halftime break, Wooster started the second half much like the first: hot. Not even four minutes into the second half, Wooster had scored 10 consecutive points to cut the Little Giants’ advantage to 53-48. The 10-0 Scots’ run featured a Turner block leading to a Billings layup, a Hardaway two-point jump shot, a Brandon Styers ’22 shot from behind the arc and three combined free throws made by Styers and Hardaway. Though Wabash held just a 55-50 lead with 15:45 remaining in the game, the Little Giants once again pulled away from the Scots. Over the next three minutes, Wabash outscored the Scots 11-2 to expand its lead to 66-52 with 12:33 to play.
Once again, the Scots demonstrated their mental toughness over the course of the next four-and-a-half minutes, as the Wabash lead shrunk to 70-65 thanks to Nick Everett’s ’24 six points and four rebounds. Unfortunately for the Scots, Wabash once again responded with an offensive explosion, scoring 24 points in the final 7:52 to seal the 94-80 victory.
Although the Scots did not come away with a win, there were many positive takeaways for the team. Both Hardaway and Kurt had standout games. Hardaway racked up 20 points, three rebounds and one assist while Kurt posted a double-double by scoring 17 points and reeling in 11 rebounds. Kurt was happy with his performance and said that it was the result of a team-first mindset. “I was just trying to do whatever I could to help my teammates and help us win. My teammates were finding me in the post early and I was able to take advantage.”
The Scots gained confidence even in defeat because these impressive individual performances coincided with a clear demonstration of the team’s resiliency. As a result, the Scots believe they have the potential to emerge as the best team in the NCAC during the final stretch of games. As Kurt put it, “I feel like we still haven’t even come close to our peak, so we just have to keep working and take it one game at a time.”
Wooster hopes to rebound from this defeat on Saturday, Feb. 5 in front of its home fans when it takes on Ohio Wesleyan.