Balanced Effort Puts Scots Into Finals of Al Van Wie Classic

Brandon Johnson dribbles behind his back to get around Farmingdale's Tremain Gary in the first half.

WOOSTER, Ohio — A balanced scoring attack keyed The College of Wooster’s 106-81 victory over Farmingdale State College on Friday night, as six different Fighting Scots reached double figures in the teams’ season opener and they advanced to the championship game of the Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic for the 13th time in the event’s 14-year history.

In Friday’s earlier contest, the University of St. Thomas edged Otterbein College 73-67.

Wooster (1-0) blew open what had been a close game with a 17-0 run late in the first half, steadily turning a 25-21 lead into a 21-point cushion. During that stretch, Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick), Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley), and Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison) combined for four 3-pointers and 16 points total, while the defense helped force Farmingdale State into 0-for-7 shooting from the field and four turnovers.

The Scots were ahead 49-32 at halftime, behind 14 points apiece from Johnson and James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South), and the visiting Rams never truly threatened in the second half. The closest the margin ever got to was 12 (66-54) at the midway point, but Wooster went on a 10-2 run shortly after that, sealing the win.

The story of the game was fouls, as the teams’ aggressive defense resulted in 59 whistles. The Scots ended up hitting 30-of-36 free throws (.833), while Farmingdale State also got to the charity stripe more than 30 times (22-of-31; .710).

Other statistics of note included a decisive 49-29 rebounding advantage for Wooster, as well as its 50 percent night from the field (31-for-62), highlighted by 14-of-29 shooting from 3-point range (.483). The Scots did commit an uncharacteristic 26 turnovers.

Individually, Bidwell and Cooper finished with 19 points apiece, followed closely by Johnson with 18, while freshman Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep), Fulk, and Evan Will (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) chipped in 11, 10, and 10 points, respectively.

Bidwell, Johnson, and Will shared team rebounding honors, each with seven, while Bidwell also contributed a game-high six asssits.

For the Rams, who shot just 3-of-19 on 3-pointers (.158) and 28-of-67 overall from the field (.418), Damien Santana pumped in 23 points and Erastus Shannon added 10 as well as a team-best six boards off the bench.

St. Thomas (1-0) overcame a slight halftime deficit (35-33), using a 12-0 run to start the second half and hung on for the victory. Otterbein (0-1) never retook the lead, however, it was tied 61-61 with about five minutes to play when the Tommies mounted a 9-2 run, including four points by B.J. Viau.

Led by Joe Scott, St. Thomas connected on .628 of its field goals (27-for-43), which helped make up for a 32-22 deficit in the rebounding department. Scott scored 23 points, while Tyler Nicolai was the only other Tommie in double figures with 10 points, in addition to five assists.

The Cardinals were paced by Ryan Kennedy and Ross Banaszak with 19 and 17 points, respectively.

Saturday’s final will mark the third time in seven seasons that St. Thomas and Wooster have matched-up during the Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic, with the Scots prevailing in a first-round game in 2003 (67-55) and the Tommies triumphing in a title tilt in 2001 (76-66).

Farmingdale State and Otterbein will play the consolation first at 6 p.m.