Witt, Wooster Earn Hard-Fought NCAC Tournament Semifinal Victories

Marty Bidwell provided seven key points, including two on this drive, to help Wooster to an 84-74 win over Earlham on Friday night.

WOOSTER, Ohio – For the fifth time in six years, and the ninth overall, The College of Wooster and Wittenberg University will meet in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament title game after the two arch-rivals posted 63-46 and 84-74 semifinal victories over Ohio Wesleyan University and Earlham College, respectively, Friday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (25-2), the No. 1 seed, held off a second-half charge by fifth-seeded Earlham that saw the Quakers cut a 17-point spread down to five on one occasion, while Wittenberg (24-3) came back from a 26-25 halftime deficit and controlled most of the action in the second en route to its 17-point win.

In the evening’s second game, the Fighting Scots seemed to be comfortably ahead at 62-45 just before the midway mark of the second half. Then, Earlham (13-14) ran off eight-straight points, including back-to-back 3-pointers by LaRon Henry, and after one Wooster free throw, Terrel Brown hit a deep ball from the right wing to suddenly bring the Quakers with seven (63-56) at the 9:48 mark.

James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) settled the Scots down with five of his team’s next six points, as they took a 70-62 lead with under seven minutes to play. Tristian Gregory answered via a driving lay-up for Earlham, but that 70-64 margin was the closest it would get the rest of the way as Tim Vandervaart (N. Canton, Ohio / Hoover) got a put back off an offensive rebound and Andy Van Horn (Loudonville, Ohio / Loudonville) completed a fastbreak lay-up on the next two possessions (74-64).

The Quakers’ final rally pulled them within 77-70 with 3:26 remaining, but the Scots were able to work the clock down and make 5-of-6 free throws en route to the 10-point victory.

Wooster never trailed, using an early 12-2 run to pull out to a 25-13 advantage, and the Scots eventually went into the break up 39-30.

Tom Port puts back a missed shot during the second half.

For the game, Cooper led Wooster with 19 points coming on 6-of-10 field goals and 7-of-9 free throws, while Vandervaart and Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) both posted double-doubles, their ninth and fourth of the season, respectively. Vandervaart was also 6-of-10 from the floor as part of a 15-point, 11-rebound night, while Port put 11 tallies into the book and matched Vandervaart’s rebounding number. The duo helped the Scots to a significant edge in that category (43-28).

Brandon Miller scored a game-high 22 points in the losing effort, despite struggling from the foul line (4-of-10). Also for Earlham, Henry tossed in 18 on 7-of-11 field goals, including 3-of-3 3-pointers.

Neither team in the first semifinal led by more than five points for the first 28 minutes, but then Wittenberg began to steadily pull away. Ahead 33-31, the Tigers scored 12 of the game’s next 16 points during a 4:05 stretch, capped by a Phil Steffes 3-pointer (45-35)

A little over two minutes later, Andy Warnock buried a 3-pointer to pull Ohio Wesleyan (18-9) back within six (45-39), but on the very next possession, Pat Denbow nailed a 3-ball of his own to make it a three-possession game and Wittenberg pulled away from there.

The difference in the game was two of the Tigers’ post players – Daniel Russ and Dane Borchers – who combined for 34 points and 21 rebounds. Borchers posted a double-double (13 points, 15 rebounds) and Russ finished with 21 points, six boards, and five assists. They helped Wittenberg to a 49-25 advantage on the glass.

Defensively, the Tigers limited the Battling Bishops, who had scorched the nets for 106 in Tuesday’s quarterfinal round and 86 in an upset win over Wooster on Saturday, to a 15-of-57 effort from the field (.263). Dustin Rudegeair was Ohio Wesleyan’s top scorer with nine points.

Saturday’s Wittenberg-Wooster tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m. The winner will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Div. III Tournament.