Travis Marmon
Sports Editor
The Wooster men’s basketball team won its fifth and sixth games in a row last week, completely outplaying NCAC rivals Denison University and Wabash College as its record improved to 18-3 (9-3 NCAC).
On Feb. 1, the Scots traveled to Granville, Ohio to play Denison (9-12, 6-6 NCAC). Entering halftime up 39-30, Wooster had a slow start to the second half. After three minutes, the Big Red had closed the deficit to 41-40. It was still a one-possession game with less than 13 minutes to go when Ryan Snyder ’14 hit a jump shot that set off an 18-5 Wooster run. Doug Thorpe ’14 had seven of his 10 total points during the run, which put the Scots up 69-54 with eight minutes left.
From that point on, it was not a contest. Wooster’s lead grew as high as 20 and never sunk below 13 for the rest of the game. They won by a score of 89-70. Jake Mays ’13 led the team with 16 points off of the bench, while Denison’s Dimonde Hale led all scorers with 25 points and was the game’s leading rebounder with nine. The Scots’ defense took advantage of the Big Red by forcing 13 turnovers, converting them into 26 points. Wooster only turned the ball over seven times, which led to five points scored by Denison. The Scots also had 39 points from their bench, and 18 of their 32 field goals were assisted. The Big Red had 19 bench points and nine assists on 25-of-58 shooting.
Last Saturday, Wooster hosted Wabash (15-6, 7-5 NCAC) as it looked to avenge a December loss to the Little Giants. Defense was the name of the game for the Fighting Scots, who held Wabash to just 21-of-63 from the field on the day.
The Little Giants led 15-11 after seven minutes, but Mays scored five points in a row to give Wooster a 16-15 lead, and the Scots would not trail or be tied again for the rest of the contest. They entered the break with a 38-27 advantage.
Wabash pulled within single digits twice in the second half. The Little Giants opened up the period with a jump shot from Derek Bailey to make it 38-29. Down 50-38 with 14 minutes to play, Houston Hodges hit a three-pointer to narrow Wooster’s lead to nine again. That was as close as Wabash could get for the rest of the game, as Hodges’ shot was countered with a 10-0 Wooster run to make it 60-41.
From then on, it was all Scots, as they ultimately won 77-59. Thorpe led all scorers with 18 points, while Justin Hallowell ’12 added 14.
Wooster played at Ohio Wesleyan University on Wednesday after press time.
Tomorrow they will go to Springfield, Ohio to play first-place Wittenberg University (17-4, 11-1 NCAC) at 7:30 p.m.