Balanced Attack Pushes Scots to Season-Opening Win

Tom Port drives for a layup during the second half against Ohio Dominican.

WOOSTER, Ohio—A pair of traditional Ohio powers in NCAA Div. III men’s basketball scored wins over NAIA programs in the opening round of the 11th annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic Friday, as Ohio Northern University edged Campbellsville (Ky.) University 73-67 and host College of Wooster eased past Ohio Dominican University 82-75 at Timken Gymnasium.

That sets up a championship game on Saturday night, featuring programs that have combined for three Div. III “Final Fours” the last 11 seasons (Ohio Northern in 1993 and 2001, and Wooster in 2003).

After Ohio Dominican (2-1) had taken its second one-point lead of the second half, the Scots (1-0) scored eight unanswered points – four from Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) and four from Tim Vandervaart (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover) – to take a 68-61 lead with 6:15 remaining. It marked the key swing of a game, which saw only one double-digit margin (Wooster 43-33), as the Panthers never pulled any closer than four (72-68) the rest of the way.

The Scots, who were ahead 43-35 at the half, helped Ohio Dominican stay in the game by uncharacteristically making just 11-of-24 free throws (.458).

Port picked up where he left off last year, finishing with a team-leading 20 points. He made three 3-pointers, as did Blake Mealer (Wauseon, Ohio / Liberty Benton), who converted 7-of-11 field goals for an 18-point night. The duo combined for 13 rebounds, too, including a squad-high seven for Port.

Wooster’s shooting guards, Joe Agler (Uniontown, Ohio / Green) and James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South), added five rebounds apiece, helping the Scots to a 42-39 advantage on the glass. Cooper’s collegiate debut also resulted in 12 points, while Kyle Witucky (Zanesville, Ohio / Zanesville) was the fourth Scot to reach double-digits with 10 points to go with a game-high six assists.

In addition to Wooster’s struggles at the charity stripe, the Panthers were within striking distance late, thanks to a 25-point effort by Haze Massey, who drained 5-of-9 3-pointers and 9-of-15 from the field overall. Twenty of Massey’s points came in the second half.

Donta Patterson paced Ohio Dominican during the first half, scoring 11 of his 18 points, while chipping in 11 markers for the game was Micah Stith.

The night’s opening match-up saw Ohio Northern (1-0) hold off a series of second-half rallies by Campbellsville (3-3). The closest the Tigers got was 64-62, when they canned four of five 3-point attempts during a 13-4 run over 4:22. The Polar Bears made 5-of-6 free throws and added a lay up in the final 1:54 to secure their six-point victory.

Greg Badenhop paced the Ohio Northern effort with 22 points, including three 3-pointers, while also knocking down three 3’s were Kyle Gehle and Nate Overmyer. Gehle ended up with 10 points.

Campbellsville’s Zach Allender pumped in a game-high 27 points, including 3-of-5 shooting from the arc, and Korey Mitchell produced the day’s only double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort.

Campbellsville and Ohio Dominican will play the consolation contest on Saturday at 6 p.m., followed 30 minutes later by another Ohio Northern-Wooster showdown. The two teams have split six games (3-3) over the last 12 seasons, including three NCAA Tournament meetings (Wooster 2-1).