Cooper Hits 2,000-Point Milestone in NCAC Tourney Quarterfinal Win

James Cooper is congratulated by Marty Bidwell after scoring his 2,000th career point.

WOOSTER, Ohio — James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) became just the second player in the tradition-rich College of Wooster’s men’s basketball program to score 2,000 career points during the Fighting Scots’ 104-71 win over Oberlin College in North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinal action Tuesday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Cooper made a couple of free throws with 4:26 remaining in the second half to reach the milestone and was then taken out to a rousing ovation. He joins the legendary Tom Dinger (2,370 points from 1967-71) as the only two Wooster players to accomplish the feat, and he’s the third in NCAC history to do so, with Scott Tedder of Ohio Wesleyan University (2,501 points from 1984-88) and Oberlin’s Chip Winiarski (2,303 points from 1986-90) being the others.

With the victory, top-seeded Wooster (23-3) advances to the NCAC Tournament semifinals, in which it will face fifth-seeded Wabash College (17-9), an 86-73 winner over Kenyon College. The other match-up will pit sixth-seeded Allegheny College (12-14) against either the No. 2 seed, Ohio Wesleyan University (17-7), or seventh-seeded Hiram College (8-17). Their game was postponed until Wednesday. Allegheny knocked off the No. 3 seed, Wittenberg University, 65-63.

As for the Oberlin-Wooster game, the Scots got off to a fast start, scoring the first eight points, highlighted by a Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison) fast-break dunk off of his own steal. Minutes later, Wooster extended a 12-7 lead into double-digits via another 8-0 run, featuring two fast-break lay-ups for Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick).

The Scots steadily pushed the lead out to 22 at one point (46-24) and went into the halftime break ahead 51-32.

In the second half, the margin never dipped under 15, as Wooster cruised to the 33-point win.

Statistically, the Scots attempted a season-high 37 free throws, making 28 for a rate of .757. The other category, in which Wooster held a significant advantage was rebounding, as the Scots more than doubled-up Oberlin 40-18.

From the field, Wooster shot 55.7 percent (34-of-61), including 8-of-18 3-pointers (.444), but allowed the Yeomen to hit nearly 50 percent (27-of-55).

Individually, Cooper had 28 points for the game, 12 coming at the free throw line (12-for-15). Bidwell scored 14 points, highlighted by a second-half dunk, and Robert Melick (Gambier, Ohio / Mt. Vernon) reached double figures with 12.

Bryan Wickliffe (Columbus, Ohio / St. Charles Prep) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Johnson and Evan Will (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) passed out four assists apiece.

Also noteworthy, Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley) reached a milestone, nailing the 200th 3-pointer of his career to join just four others in team history. In fact, the 200 career 3-pointers made now gives him the minimum number needed for inclusion in the NCAA record book, and he currently sits seventh in Div. III history with a 3-point percentage of .490 (200-for-408).

For the Yeomen, Omari Hall scored a career-high 22 points in their season finale.

The NCAC Tournament semifinals will begin Friday at 6 p.m., with the Wabash-Wooster match-up slated for an 8 p.m. start. Friday’s two winners will meet Saturday at 7 p.m., for the title and the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament. All three games will be at the Scots’ Timken Gymnasium.