Wooster Knocks Off Div. II Edinboro On The Road 74-57

Robert Sims

EDINBORO, Pa. – The College of Wooster men's basketball team, ranked No. 19 in Division III in the D3hoops.com Top-25 poll, used a balanced scoring attack to knock off Division II Edinboro 74-57 on the road Saturday night (Nov. 24).

The Scots (2-1), who shot just 40 percent from the field in losing to St. Thomas last Saturday, shot 54 percent (29-of-54) against Edinboro (0-2), while holding the host Scots to just 30 percent (17-of-57) shooting from the floor.

Wooster, which had just one player averaging double figures in scoring coming into the game, had four players score 10 or more points, led by sophomore Robert Sims, who finished with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. He also collected five rebounds, four assists and two steals in just 21 minutes of action.

Also reaching double figures for Wooster was junior Bryan Nelson, who finished with 13 points – 12 points under his season average. He was joined by junior Matt Smith, who had 11 points, and sophomore Rodney Mitchell, who scored 10 points.

The Scots of Wooster only trailed once during the game, and that was when Edinboro scored the first two points of the game. But Edinboro stayed close, and trailed by only five points (32-27) at halftime.

The hosts cut Wooster's lead to three points right at the start of the second half, but never got any closer. The decisive run occurred with 11:11 to play in the second half, when Wooster outscored Edinboro 12-3 over a three minute-span to open up a 58-42 lead. Wooster never led by less than 13 points the rest of the game.

Wooster figured to have its hands full with Edinboro's forward Kenny Tate, a two-time All-American, and that proved to be the case. He finished with a game-high 25 points in 34 minutes. But he received little help from his teammates, as the rest of the host Scots shot a combined 24 percent (10-of-41) from the field and finished with just 32 points.

Wooster will continue its non-conference schedule when it hosts Capital on November 28 at 7:30 p.m. The Scots open North Coast Athletic Conference play next Saturday, Dec. 1, when it travels to Earlham.