No. 20 Wooster Rolls Past Winless Kenyon 96-58

Matt Smith

The undefeated College of Wooster men's basketball team shot nearly 60 percent from the field (.596) and dominated every other facet of the game during a 96-58 victory on Saturday afternoon at winless North Coast Athletic Conference foe, Kenyon College.

Wooster (6-0, 2-0 NCAC), ranked 20th in the nation by d3hoops.com, scored the first seven points and held a double figure lead less than six minutes into the game (17-6) en route to their third wire-to-wire win of 2002-03.

Kenyon (0-6, 0-1 NCAC) did manage to pull the margin back to single-digits, getting it as close as 21-14, but it was only momentarily, as the Scots then responded with a 16-4 run (37-18) and took a 45-26 lead into the break.

The second half was more of the same, with Wooster jumping out to a 30-point edge (70-39) by the 11:41 mark, eventually securing the 38-point victory.

For the fourth time this season, four Scots finished in double figures led by seniors Bryan Nelson (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont) and Matt Smith (Elida, Ohio / Elida). Nelson only missed three shots all game (one field goal, one three-point field goal, and one free throw) en route to a high in points (24). The 6-4, 230-pound post player also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double.

Smith became the school's career leader in three-pointers made. He scored 21 points, highlighted by a 5-of-6 effort from beyond the arc all in the second half, boosting his four-year total to 170-of-381 (.446). Antwyan Reynolds owned the previous-best mark with 165 three-pointers made between 1998-02.

Also putting up double-digits in the scoring column were Matt Schlingman (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland), who rebounded from a scoreless effort on Wednesday and made 8-of-8 free throws en route to 12 points, and Ryan Snyder (Sebring, Ohio / Sebring McKinley), who threw in 10 points for the second game in a row.

John Campbell produced team-highs of 17 points and six boards for the Lords.

Along with hitting 34-of-57 shots from the field, Wooster knocked down 84.0 percent of its free throws (21-of-25) and outrebounded Kenyon by 20 (42-22).

The Scots will now have a 13-day break before their next set of games, a tournament in Elmhurst, Ill.