12th-Ranked Wooster Looks to Close Out NCAC Championship Outright

James Cooper

Having already clinched a share of the 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference championship, The College of Wooster, up two spots to No. 12 in this week’s D3hoops.com national top-25 poll, can win it outright as well as earn hosting rights for the NCAC Tournament with one more victory. First, the Fighting Scots, who won the NCAC outright each of the last three seasons, will welcome sixth-place Allegheny College (11-12, 6-8 NCAC) to Timken Gymnasium on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. Three weeks ago (Jan. 30), Wooster overcame a cold-shooting night for its standards, instead utilizing a strong defensive effort to prevail 78-61 at Allegheny. On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Scots will close their regular season by visiting Earlham College (4-19, 2-12 NCAC), which enters the week tied for ninth and in a battle for the final position of the eight-team NCAC tourney, for a 1 p.m. tip-off. Wooster steadily pulled away from Earlham en route to an 89-68 triumph in the squads’ first meeting this year (Jan. 26).

Last Week: The Scots won both their games, hitting the 20-win mark (20-3) for the 12th-straight season – the longest such streak in NCAA Div. III – and taking over sole possession of first-place in the conference standings (13-1).

On Feb. 13, Wooster found itself in a surprising 16-14 hole at Denison University, but the Scots closed the first half strong, including runs of 12-0 and 10-2, to take a 39-28 lead and then went on to an 82-64 NCAC victory in Granville, Ohio. Wooster scored the game’s first 12 points, followed by an ice-cold stretch as its offense was without a field goal for more than eight minutes, and Denison took the lead. It was short lived, though, as James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) connected on a 3-pointer as part of that 12-0 run and added two more during the 10-2 stretch. Those runs added up to a 36-23 cushion for the Scots and it was 11 (39-28) at the break. Wooster extended its lead out to 53-32 over the first six minutes of the second half and the margin never went under 15 from there. Cooper scored a game-high 16 points, all coming in the first half, and in doing so crossed the 1,900-point milestone for his career (1,906). He made 4-of-7 3-pointers and fellow senior shooting guard Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley) nailed 2-of-3 as part of a 10-point night. In the post, the Scots had double-digit efforts from both Evan Will (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) and Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep), as they contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively. Will produced game highs of eight rebounds and three steals as well.

On Feb. 16, Wooster’s Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison) scored five unanswered points to give the Scots a 64-58 lead at the three-minute mark and the defense held arch-rival Wittenberg University to just three points the rest of the way, as they earned a 66-61 win to send most of the sell-out crowd (3,300) at Timken Gym home happy. Once again, one of the best small-college basketball rivalries was close throughout, neither team ever gaining a double-digit lead. It was a one-possession game from the 10:13 mark of the second half until Johnson buried a 3-pointer – his only attempt from outside the arc all day – with 3:09 left to extend Wooster’s lead to 62-58. The ensuing series of events saw Cooper come up with a steal, and then after working the shot clock down, Johnson penetrated and got free for a lay-up, resulting in a six-point advantage (64-58). Points were hard to come by throughout the second half, especially over the final three minutes. Wittenberg got one back via a free throw at the 2:34 mark, but then neither team scored, thanks in part to the Scots working the clock down on their possessions, until the Tigers converted a lay-up with just under :30 to play (64-61). Wooster successfully in-bounded the ball to its best free throw shooter, Fulk, and he shook off a cold-shooting night, sinking both ends of the one-and-one with 19.9 seconds remaining, which turned out to be the contest’s final points (66-61). Thanks to 8-of-12 3-point shooting, Wittenberg owned the lead throughout much of the first half, but the Scots closed strong to pull within 36-35 at the break. Overall, Cooper scored a game-high 24 points, highlighted by 5-of-7 3-point shooting, and Johnson chipped in 12 points, including seven of the team’s last nine. Will may have been the Scots’ most valuable contributor with 12 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks – all game highs – in addition to eight points.

NCAC Player of the Week: For his efforts (see above), James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week.