Scots Set School Record With 25 3-Pointers in 2006-07 Debut

James Cooper

WOOSTER, Ohio — The College of Wooster made nine of its first 11 3-point attempts, including eight-straight at one point, and would connect on a school-record 25 3-pointers overall en route to a season-opening 128-71 victory over Cabrini College Friday night in the second game of the 13th annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic.

There will be a northeast Ohio flavor in Saturday night’s championship game, as Mt. Union College knocked off Emory & Henry College 103-83 during Friday’s first contest at Wooster’s Timken Gymnasium.

The Fighting Scots (1-0) made their initial 3-pointer and missed their next two, but were still ahead 7-6 when they really started to heat up from outside. Over the next 4:26, Wooster sank eight in a row from behind the arc, while building a 31-12 lead in the process.

The Scots stayed ahead by 17 or more the rest of the way, including a 64-30 halftime lead.

Eleven Wooster players made 3-pointers led by James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South), Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake), Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison), and Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley). Cooper finished 6-of-9, part of a game-high 24 points, while Port, Johnson, and Fulk were 5-of-7, 4-of-6, and 3-of-6 for 19, 14, and 11 points, respectively. Noteworthy, Johnson passed out a career-high seven assists in his first start and the sophomore point guard came up with a team-best four steals.

Tim Vandervaart (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover) also reached double-digits in scoring for the Scots, producing 15 tallies to go with a team-leading six rebounds.

For Cabrini (0-1), Randy Reid was a bright spot, contributing 18 points, nine boards, and four steals, all squad-highs.

In the first game, Mt. Union (1-0) scored 15 unanswered points in the early going to take a 27-11 lead and Emory & Henry never really threatened the rest of the way. The Purple Raiders extended their advantage to as many as 29 in the opening half, led 53-34 at the break, and the closest it got in the second was 66-54.

Mt. Union had a pair of 20-point scorers in Stu Anglum (29) and Chris Crawford (22), as the post players combined to shoot 22-of-31 from the field. Chris Switzer added 15 tallies in the scorebook and point guard Sam King dished out nine assists before fouling out.

For the Wasps (0-1), who made just 11-of-64 3-point attempts, Robert Hudson had 11 markers and Korey Townsend 10.

Cabrini and Emory & Henry will tip-off at 6 p.m. Saturday, and the Mt. Union-Wooster game will start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the consolation contest.