Fighting Scots Fall to Washington-St. Louis for Second-Straight Year in NCAA’s

James Cooper

In a rematch of an NCAA Div. III Tournament “Final Four” game from a season ago, Washington University-St. Louis again got the best of The College of Wooster, this time during Friday’s first-round action, as the Bears fought off a series of rallies by the Fighting Scots to hang on for a 79-74 win at Rock Island, Ill.

For Wooster, it marks the end of its 2007-08 season, during which the Scots went 23-5 and won their fourth-straight North Coast Athletic Conference championship (15-1).

Washington (20-6) never trailed. The Bears jumped out to an 11-1 lead, while holding Wooster without a field goal for nearly five minutes to start the game. Washington had extended that advantage to 18-5 a few moments later before the Scots settled down. Wooster went on a 13-2 run to pull within two at 23-21, however, the Bears regained the momentum, finishing the half strong and going into the locker room with a seven-point cushion (34-27).

The second half played out very similarly. Washington scored the first six points, matching its biggest lead of 13 points (40-27). The Scots would make a series of runs, first chipping a 43-33 game down to two (46-44), during a flurry that included three James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) 3-pointers. Wooster had a possession to either tie or take the lead, but could not convert and then the Bears collected three offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession before Aaron Thompson buried a 3-pointer to retake the momentum.

Washington would then push its advantage back to nine points (57-48) before the Scots put together another charge, this time going on a 10-3 run, which made it a 60-58 game. The seesaw battle continued, with the Bears extending it back to a nine-point lead at 69-60 with 1:58 remaining. Wooster did not give in, rallying to within 73-69 at the :26 mark and 77-74 with :08 to go, however, Washington was clutch from the free throw line, canning 10-for-12 during the final two minutes.

The Scots shot well for the game, using a 19-of-31 effort in the second half to finish at 55.6 percent from the field, including 12-of-26 3-pointers (.462). The Bears made an even 50 percent from the floor (29-of-58), including 6-of-17 3-pointers (.353), but did a better job of getting to the free throw line, where they were 15-of-19 (.789). In addition, Wooster was outrebounded for just the fifth time this season (31-25).

Individually, Cooper scored 23 points, all coming in the second half, to finish his remarkable career with 2,037 points, while fellow senior guard Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley) added 16 points, despite an off-night from 3-point range (2-for-8). Another member of the backcourt, Brandon Johnson (Columbus, Ohio / Groveport Madison) added 10 points and five assists while being limited to 21 minutes due to a sprained ankle.

The Scots had no answer for Washington post Troy Ruths, who piled up a game-high 28 points on 13-of-19 field goals. Thompson matched his total from last season’s national 3rd-place game between the two teams with 16 points, in addition to a game-high six assists.