Hot Second-Half Shooting Gives Scots 67-55 Lid-Lifter Win

Blake Mealer finished with six points and a game-high seven rebounds against St. Thomas.

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster hit 16-of-25 shots (.640) from the field in the second half to turn a five-point halftime lead (28-23) into a relatively comfortable 67-55 season-opening victory over St. Thomas (Minn.) University at the 10th annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic on Friday night.

The Scots (1-0), making their first appearance since playing in the NCAA Div. III "Final Four" for the first time in school history this past March, will meet Otterbein College (1-0) in the tournament title game on Saturday (Nov. 22) at 8 p.m. Otterbein used 25 points from DeQuan Owens in his collegiate debut to knock off the State University of New York at Brockport 79-72 in the other first-round match-up.

After St. Thomas (0-1) pulled within two early in the second half (30-28), Wooster slowly pulled away. The Scots scored the next six points and outscored their visitors 22-13 over a 10:46 time period to build an 11-point bulge. The Tommies never pulled any closer than nine the rest of the way.

In his debut, Wooster sophomore transfer Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) scored a game-high 16 points, including 2-of-5 three-pointers, and junior center Matt Schlingman (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland) chipped in 14 markers, despite struggling from the free throw line (6-for-15).

Sophomore point guard Kyle Witucky (Zanesville, Ohio / Zanesville) gave the Scots a boost in the opening half, knocking down three three-pointers in the opening 8:01. He finished with nine points, while Blake Mealer (Wauseon, Ohio / Liberty Benton) had a game-high seven boards and his backup, PJ McCloud (Kettering, Ohio / Kettering Fairmont) proved valuable minutes off of the bench, registering seven points and five rebounds in 15 minutes.

St. Thomas, which shot 40.8 percent from the field (20-for-49) for the game, was paced by Alex Weaver and Neal Anderson, who tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively. Nick Schader pulled down seven rebounds.

In the first game, Otterbein withstood early and late charges by Brockport State (0-1). The Golden Eagles jumped out to leads of 6-0 and 10-4, but the Cardinals used a 13-2 run at the end of the first half to take a seven-point lead at the break (36-29).

Otterbein went on a 7-1 run to open the second and held a double-digit lead until Brockport State trimmed a 63-50 game down to six on three occasions, but never any closer.

Owens’ 25 points came on 11-of-17 field goals, including 3-of-6 from the three-point arc, while Scott Hadley contributed a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Also in double figures were Aaron Minister and Tony Borghese with 15 and 12 markers, respectively.

The Golden Eagles were led by Charlie Croff’s 22 points. Brandon Mills added 14 points and fell one rebound short of a double-double, and Orlando Nazario and Randy Bills scored 16 and 10 points, respectively.

Saturday’s consolation contest will get underway at 6 p.m., followed approximately 30 minutes later by the championship game. Otterbein and Wooster last played each other in the 1999 NCAA Div. III Tournament, with the Scots winning on their home floor 89-80.