19th-Ranked Scots at Hiram, Then Travel to Witt for Showdown

Bryan Wickliffe

Wooster-Wittenberg: Live Audio | Live Stats | History of Wooster-Wittenberg Rivalry

The College of Wooster, which crawled up one more spot to No. 19 in the latest D3hoops.com national top-25 poll, continues its run of North Coast Athletic Conference road games this week, highlighted by a trip to Wittenberg University (8-5, 4-0 NCAC). Both teams are currently tied for first-place in the league standings and on extended winning streaks – Wittenberg at seven and Wooster at nine. First, the Fighting Scots hope to extend their streak to 10 on Wednesday, Jan. 16, when they visit eighth-place Hiram College (4-9, 1-3 NCAC) for a 7:30 p.m. tip. Wooster is 65-17 all-time against Hiram, including 19-straight victories, however, two of the last three meetings at the Terriers’ Price Gymnasium have been close – 91-80 in 2005 and 102-91 in 2006.

This Saturday, Jan. 19, the Scots will be in Springfield, Ohio, for the first of their annual clashes with the Tigers, considered by most to be one of the best, if not the best, rivalry in NCAA Div. III men’s basketball. They are the two all-time winningest programs in Div. III, with Wittenberg sporting a 1,567-623 record (.716) and Wooster at 1,460-747 (.662). The Scots own the highest win percentage of any NCAA team of the 2000s (220-35; .863). This week’s game will mark the 91st match-up between the two Ohio foes, with the Tigers holding a 49-41 edge. Incredibly, 38, or 42.2 percent of Wittenberg-Wooster games have been decided by five points or less, including five of the last six and 18 of the last 35, and that doesn’t even include the classic triple-overtime game on Feb. 12, 2005, which the Scots eventually won by seven (102-95). The rivalry rejuvenated in 1988-89 when the Tigers joined the NCAC, and since then, the two have played 43 times, with Wittenberg narrowly ahead 24-19. One of the two teams has won/shared the NCAC regular season championship each of the last 19 seasons, and they’ve combined to win all but two NCAC Tournament titles during that span. Saturday’s game time at the Tigers’ 3,000-seat HPER Center is 7:30 p.m.

Last Week: Wooster had a one-game week for the third and final time of the regular season, triumphing in a road conference game to improve to 11-2 overall and 4-0 in the NCAC.

On Jan. 12, the Scots came back from an 11-point second-half deficit, taking the lead with about 2:30 remaining and using a final defensive stop to escape with a 72-70 victory over Wabash College at Crawfordsville, Ind. Wooster, which also trailed around the three-minute mark (61-60) of last year’s meeting at Wabash before prevailing (68-63), found itself in a 58-47 hole at the midway point of Saturday’s second half. The Scots steadily pulled closer, keeping the margin within single digits over the next two minutes. The Little Giants still seemed comfortably ahead at 60-51 with just under 8:00 to go, but then Wooster strung together a 15-2 run. During that stretch, the Scots made three field goals and reached the free throw line five times, going a perfect 9-for-9, while defensively, they helped limit Wabash to 1-of-8 field-goal shooting. Ahead 66-62, Wooster hung on during the final two minutes, with Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley) drilling a 3-pointer to put the Scots up 69-65 and Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) following up a teammate’s miss with an offensive rebound and put-back lay-up for a 71-67 lead at the :17 mark. The Little Giants still had a chance to send the game into overtime or win on a 3-pointer, however, Wooster prevented them from getting a shot off during the final :09 as Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison) came up with a steal. Overall, Wickliffe notched a 20-point game for the first time, as the freshman post made 8-of-13 field goals, and he also shared team-high rebounding honors with Evan Will (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) at six apiece. Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) contributed 16 points and a career-high five steals to the victory, while James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) and Johnson were also in double figures at 12 and 10 points, respectively.