The men’s basketball team has now won the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament as well as the regular season championship, defeating Ohio Wesleyan University on Friday and Wittenberg University on Saturday to earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
Ohio Wesleyan (16-11, 11-5 NCAC) played Wooster in Timken Gymnasium for the second time in a week, having lost to the Scots (26-2, 14-2 NCAC) 81-72 on Feb. 19. Although this game was close until the end, Wooster took a 13-11 lead with under 14 minutes left in the first half and never trailed from that point on.
Ian Franks ’11 led the team with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while Bryan Wickliffe ’11 had 12 points and eight boards. In total, the Scots had a dominant 46-30 advantage on the glass.
The closest that the Battling Bishops came to tying the game in the second half was when Andy Winters hit a layup with under three minutes left to make it 60-56. Ohio Wesleyan fouled on every ensuing Wooster possession, as the Scots made 10 of their final 12 free throws to seal a 70-62 victory. Overall, Wooster made 37 trips to the line and converted 26, while Ohio Wesleyan went only 11-18.
In the tournament final against Wittenberg (19-8, 13-3 NCAC), the Scots got another 25-point performance out of Franks as well as 19 from Justin Hallowell ’12 and shot 13-23 from beyond the arc to win 82-68. While Wooster was on fire from three-point range, it held Wittenberg to less than 23 percent from outside.
Wooster had several double-digit leads in the game, but Wittenberg refused to give in. As the Scots took a 33-17 advantage with seven minutes left in the first half, the Tigers went on a 13-3 run to cut it to 36-30. Hallowell responded with a buzzer-beating three to end the half and Nathan Balch ’11 opened the second half with a three of his own as Wooster jumped out to a 47-34 lead. But Wittenberg closed yet again, going on an 11-3 run to make it 50-45 with 13 minutes to go.
Leading 54-50 with 11 minutes left in the game, Franks made a jumper and Hallowell knocked down another three-pointer to take a nine-point lead.
The closest the Tigers got from that point on was a seven-point deficit with just over a minute left. The Scots then drained seven consecutive free throws (part of their 33 total trips to the charity stripe) to seal the victory and the conference championship.
Ending the season ranked fifth in the nation, Wooster earned the right to host three games in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Scots will host Northern Athletics Conference champions Benedictine University (Ill.) (21-7, 13-3 NAC) tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Timken Gymnasium.
The winner will play the victor of the game between Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference champions Manchester College (21-6, 15-3 HCAC) and President’s Athletic Conference winners Bethany College (W. Va) (21-7, 10-4 PAC) tomorrow night.