Scots Lose For The First Time In 2000-01, Fall 83-78 To SCAD

Antwyan Reynolds scored a career-high 31 points in a losing effort against SCAD.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The College of Wooster, which has been ranked second in NCAA Division III men's basketball each of the past five weeks, dropped an 83-78 decision on the road Monday evening in non-conference action to Savannah College of Art & Design.

It was just Wooster's second loss since Dec. 18, 1999, with the other one coming in the "Sweet 16" of the NCAA Tournament last season against Calvin College, which went on to win the national title.

A victory would have given the Scots their 12th-straight win and their best start to a season in school history, as they also started out 11-0 in 1930, a season in which they won their first of eight regular season Ohio Athletic Conference championships.

For Savannah Art & Design (11-8), it marked the squad's second victory over a nationally-ranked team in three days, as the Bees defeated No. 22 Williams College (Mass.) 50-49 on Jan. 6.

Earlier this season, Wooster overcame a 66-63 deficit with :50 to play and beat Savannah Art & Design 67-66 in the championship game of the Al Van Wie / Wooster Rotary Classic back on Nov. 18. Once again, the Bees got off to a quick start, but this time they were able to hold off a late rally by the Scots.

After Savannah Art & Design had maintained an 8-14-point lead for the majority of the second half, Wooster put together a late 7-2 run to cut it to four at 82-78 with less than a minute to play, but the Scots ran out of time as they were forced to foul and put up wild shots.

The Bees, who led for nearly the entire game, got off to a quick start, leading by as many as 16 points (42-26) during the first half before going into the break with a 42-30 advantage.

The hosts were led by junior forward Marcus Ross and sophomore guard Labeeb Abdullah. Ross had 25 points, 16 of which came in the first half, while Abdullah, who came into the game averaging 5.4 points, scored 23 points off the bench before fouling out.

For Wooster, junior Antwyan Reynolds (Mansfield, Ohio / Mansfield Senior) led the way with a career-high 31 points, however, he struggled from the free throw line. Reynolds, who entered the game hitting 90.0 percent (36-of-40), only hit 2-of-8 from the charity stripe at the Savannah Civic Center.

Senior Nate Gaubatz (Wooster, Ohio / Northwestern) and sophomore Bryan Nelson (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont) also reached double figures, as they finished with 10 points apiece in the loss.

Overall, Savannah Art & Design hit 50.9 percent (28-of-55) of its field goal attempts, including 3-of-6 from three-point range, while Wooster canned 49.1 percent (27-of-55) from the floor, highlighted by a 50.0 percent (8-of-16) night from beyond the arc.

The difference tonight was turnovers, as the Scots turned the ball over 21 times, compared to 14 times during the teams' first meeting. On the other hand, the Bees had 11 turnovers tonight, eight less than in their other meeting.

A complete box score from this game was not available at the time of this release, however, statistics were obtained from Galen Swartzentruber, who called the game for WQKT 104.5 FM in Wooster.

The Scots, who now own an 11-1 overall record and 4-0 mark in the North Coast Athletic Conference, will try and start a new winning streak on Wednesday (Jan. 10) when they return to action with a league contest against Kenyon College (6-6, 3-2 NCAC). Gametime at Timken Gymnasium where Wooster owns an NCAA-leading 39-game home winning streak is at 7:30 p.m.