20th-Ranked Scots Hold Off Pesky Denison 74-63

Rodney Mitchell finished with 17 points and helped Wooster pull away late with some key baskets.

WOOSTER, Ohio - Denison University and The College of Wooster tipped off the 19th season of North Coast Athletic Conference men's basketball with a hard-fought game, in which Wooster was finally able to secure a 74-63 win over its visitors by outscoring them 7-0 in the final 2:00.

The Scots (5-0, 1-0 NCAC), No. 20 in this week's d3hoops.com national poll after not being ranked in the preseason, were never behind in the second half, but could not break the game open until late.

Denison (2-4, 0-1 NCAC) cut the lead from 63-53 at the 5:57 mark to 67-63 and gained possession of the ball after a pair of Wooster misfires. However, the Big Red then missed the front end of a 1-and-1, while the Scots proceeded to make their front end of a 1-and-1 and then clamped down defensively, resulting in three Rodney Mitchell (Elida, Ohio / Elida) lay-ups during the final :45.

In the opening half, Denison fell behind 4-0, but came back with 11 unanswered points to grab Wooster's attention. The Scots later responded with a 15-4 run, turning another seven-point deficit (18-11) into a 26-22 advantage and held a 32-30 lead at the break.

At the start of the second, Wooster went to Bryan Nelson (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont) repeatedly, as the senior forward scored eight of the team's first 13 points to keep the Scots ahead. Overall, Nelson did a little bit of everything, finishing with game-highs in points (24) and rebounds (10), as well as a team-high five assists and two blocked shots.

Mitchell joined Nelson in double figures with 17 points, while reserve Ryan Snyder (Sebring, Ohio / Sebring McKinley) poured in 10 points, including 2-of-3 three-pointers, in just 16 minutes.

Also noteworthy for Wooster, senior Matt Smith (Elida, Ohio / Elida) made 2-of-5 threes, tying the school record for a career with 165 makes from behind the arc.

Despite shooting 52.2 percent from the floor (24-of-46) for the game, the Big Red only had two in double-digits. Tommy Hodgkinson connected on 6-of-8 shots, including two trifectas, for 14 points, while Chris Hull was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc and added another field goal and free throw for 12 points.

After a cold start, the Scots shot well in the second half, making 16-of-27 field goals (.593) during that stanza to finish at 47.5 percent (29-of-61) for the game.

Additionally, Wooster held an advantage on the boards (34-26) for the fifth game this year.

Next, the Scots head to Gambier, Ohio, for their only meeting of the season against Kenyon College (0-5). Game time on Saturday, Dec. 7, is set for 3 p.m.