No. 14 Scots at Denison, Then First-Place in the NCAC on the Line vs. Witt

Devin Fulk

The College of Wooster, ranked No. 14 in the latest NCAA Div. III poll (D3hoops.com), is tied for first in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with four regular season games remaining to determine this year’s league champion, including two this week. On Wednesday, Feb. 13, the Fighting Scots will be at ninth-place Denison University (2-19, 2-10 NCAC) for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off. Wooster handled Denison relatively easily the first time around, rolling past the Big Red 97-57 on Jan. 23, but that was when they were in the midst of an 0-17 start to the season. Denison has won two of its last four games to get back in the race for a spot in the eight-team NCAC Tournament.

This Saturday night, Feb. 16, the two teams that are currently atop the conference will meet, as Wittenberg University (15-6, 11-1 NCAC) visits the Scots’ 3,400-seat Timken Gymnasium for another highly-anticipated match-up between the two rivals and Div. III powers (see more below). During their Jan. 19 meeting, Wooster led for all but a few possessions, but Wittenberg came up with the big plays, including three made free throws with 1.9 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and the last five points of the extra session, to pull out an 87-86 victory. Entering this week, the Scots have won 16 of 17 and the Tigers carry a similar streak of 14 victories over their last 15, meaning Saturday’s winner will have a leg up on the NCAC championship, as well as hosting rights for the NCAC Tournament. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Witt-Woo Rivalry: While the Wittenberg-Wooster rivalry stretches across all sports, it reaches a fever pitch when the two meet in men’s basketball. They are the all-time winningest programs in NCAA Div. III, with the Tigers at No. 1 with 1,574 victories to date and the Scots No. 2 with 1,467, including 227 this decade, which puts Wooster as the winningest Div. III team of the 2000s. In the all-time series between the two Ohio foes, Wittenberg holds a slight advantage (50-41). Incredibly, 39 of the 91 Wittenberg-Wooster games, or 42.9 percent, have been decided by five points or less, including six of the last seven and 19 of the last 36, which doesn’t even count the 2005 classic triple-overtime game when the Scots eventually prevailed by seven (102-95).

The rivalry rejuvenated in 1988-89 when Wittenberg joined the NCAC, and since then, the two have played 44 times, with the Tigers owning a 25-19 lead. Wittenberg or Wooster 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. Also noteworthy, homecourt advantage has not meant much in this series of late, as the Tigers have won five of the last six meetings at Timken Gym, a trend the Scots hope to reverse Saturday.

Last Week: Wooster won a pair of home games, as it remained in a tie for first-place in the NCAC (11-1) for the third-straight week and upped its overall record to 18-3.

On Feb. 6, senior guard Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley) became the 32nd player in the tradition-rich Fighting Scot basketball program to score 1,000 career points, while leading Wooster to a 104-61 conference victory over visiting Hiram College. Fulk made every shot he attempted, including 4-of-4 3-pointers, as part of a 16-point effort and also passed out a career-high six assists during his milestone night. The Scots, who used a late run in the first half to take a 46-27 cushion at the break and were comfortably ahead throughout the second, received a game-high 21 points from fellow senior guard James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South). In addition, junior forward Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) chipped in 13 points and sophomore forward Craig Elam (Dayton, Ohio / Carroll) reached double figures for the first time in his career, tallying 10 points.