Scot Veterans Come Up Big In 63-62 Win Over ONU

Bryan Nelson had a big game for the Scots, finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the comeback win.

A battle between two of the top NCAA Div. III basketball programs in Ohio lived up to the hype Tuesday night, as The College of Wooster was unable to seal its 63-62 victory until the final possession, when Ohio Northern University missed a pair of shots in the final 9.9 seconds.

Trailing by one, host Ohio Northern (0-1), ranked No. 24 in d3hoops.com's preseason poll and winners of five of the last 10 Ohio Athletic Conference championships, went to its preseason All-American Jim Conrad. But the junior wing could not get a jumper in the lane to go down and Sam Mikolajewski's hurried put-back at the buzzer barely drew iron.

The Scots (3-0), North Coast Athletic Conference champions five times since 1992 and regulars in the NCAA Tournament, had taken just their second lead of the second half on the previous possession via a jump shot from the right wing by junior guard Rodney Mitchell (Elida, Ohio / Elida).

Down 10 (51-41) with 13:16 to play, Wooster chipped away at the lead, thanks to the play of senior Bryan Nelson (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont), who carried the team through a tough shooting night. Nelson finished with game-highs in points (24), rebounds (12), and steals (five), and gave the Scots their first second-half lead (61-60) after converting a pair of free throws with 1:13 remaining.

On the ensuing possession, Conrad gave the Polar Bears the lead right back on a jumper with :44 left, in turn setting up Mitchell's shot 20 seconds later, which became the game-winner.

In the opening half, the Scots, scored the first eight points of the contest, but Ohio Northern quickly bounced back, grabbing a 18-16 advantage and getting ahead 36-30 at the break.

Mitchell joined Nelson as the only Wooster player in double figures with 10 points, however, senior Matt Smith (Elida, Ohio / Elida) and sophomore Blake Mealer (Wauseon, Ohio / Liberty-Benton) finished with nine and seven points, respectively, including key back-to-back threes, which cut the lead to 53-51.

Conrad had 18 points to lead the way for the Polar Bears, but it took him 17 field-goal attempts (6-of-17) to do it, as opposed to Nelson, who knocked down 8-of-11 shots from the floor and 8-of-9 free throws.

Junior Billy Barkimer also reached double-digits for Ohio Northern with a career-high 10 points.

Overall, the teams shot similarly from the field with the Scots making 41.2 percent (21-of-51), compared to the Polar Bears' 44.9 percent (22-of-49). The differences came in Wooster getting to the free throw line more often, where it knocked down 18-of-20, and Ohio Northern making 9-of-20 from beyond the arc to just 3-of-12 for the Scots, who are usually very proficient from the outside.

The other important statistic Wooster won was rebounding, as it held a 31-29 advantage for the game, and outboarded the hosts by eight in the second half.

After a quick break for Thanksgiving, the Scots will take their perfect record to New Wilmington, Pa., where they will face-off against Westminster (Pa.) College (1-2) on Sunday, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m.