St. Thomas Upends Wooster 76-66 to Win Al Van Wie Classic

Bryan Nelson collected 21 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort.

WOOSTER, Ohio - While it is always nice to win tournaments at the start of the season, the main purpose of playing them is to work out the kinks before the more important league games come around. The College of Wooster will keep that in mind after being defeated by the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) 76-66 in the championship game of the 8th annual Al Van Wie Wooster Rotary Classic.

Wooster (1-1) could not overcome a 10-of-28 first half shooting performance or the hot hand of Tournament MVP Mark Buri, as the preseason All-American finished with a team-high 21 points while playing all 40 minutes in the title game following his 16-point performance on Friday night.

The Scots dug themselves an early hole, falling behind by as many 15 points (27-12) midway through the opening frame, but pulled within eight at the halftime break (37-29).

Wooster appeared primed for a comeback early on in the second stanza, thanks to a spark from sophomore guard Robert Sims (Bedford Hts., Ohio / St. Peter Chanel). He scored all nine of his points in the second half and added a pair of steals to help the Scots pull within four at 49-45 with 11:36 to play.

St. Thomas would not allow Wooster to get any closer and put the game away with clutch free thrown shooting down the stretch, as the Tommies canned 11-of-12 from the stripe during the final 2:24.

Individually, junior Bryan Nelson (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont) turned in another solid night for the Scots in the post, pouring in 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, but as a team they could never quite get in sync. Nelson earned all-tournament team honors after totaling 50 points and 19 rebounds in the two games.

Also, Wooster junior Matt Smith (Elida, Ohio / Elida) added 11 points against St. Thomas, while senior Antwyan Reynolds (Mansfield, Ohio / Mansfield Senior) garnered Defensive MVP honors.

For the Tommies, Cole Butler and Brendan Finn scored 18 and 15 points, respectively, to land on the all-tourney team, while Jimmy Siorsis also played a key role, contributing 10 points and eight assists against the Scots. Finn ended up with 33 points for the tournament, including 6-of-11 from beyond the arc, while Butler totaled 28 points and 12 rebounds.

In the consolation game, Randolph-Macon College beat the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford 75-58. Randolph-Macon was paced by Tim Smith, who scored 17 points and dished out five assists, while Justin Moyer came off the bench to chip in 12 points. Pitt-Bradford was led for the second-straight game by Matt Beacom, as he registered game-highs in points (25) and rebounds (12).

Beacom and Smith completed the seven-member all-tournament team.

Wooster will try and get back on track next Saturday (Nov. 24), when it travels to the Erie, Pa. area, for a match-up with NCAA Division II power Edinboro University.