Vandervaart Scores Career-High 32, as Scots Top Walsh By 17

Tim Vandervaart

Playing in his hometown, Tim Vandervaart (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover) scored a career-high 32 points, leading The College of Wooster, ranked No. 2 in NCAA Div. III, past the No. 7 rated team in NAIA Div. II, Walsh University, by a count of 85-68.

Walsh (3-2) jumped out to an early 14-8 lead, but the Fighting Scots followed with a 19-0 spurt, which paved the way for their victory. During the run, Wooster got two 3-pointers from Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) and two more from Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley), as well as a couple of inside buckets by Vandervaart, all of which turned the game around in favor of Wooster 27-14.

The Scots (3-0) owned a double-digit advantage for most of the remainder of the first half, however, Walsh did trim a 14-point margin (45-31) down to seven (48-41) over the final three minutes.

Neither scored during the opening 2:41 of the second half and then the Cavaliers pulled within five on two occasions before Wooster went on another key run. The Scots strung together a 10-2 stretch, with four of those points coming from Vandervaart, to turn a 50-45 game into 60-47, and the lead would only dip below 10 twice the rest of the way.

Vandervaart’s career-high scoring effort came on 12-of-15 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws, and he also grabbed a team-best seven rebounds to lead Wooster to a 35-27 advantage in that department. James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) contributed 14 points and Fulk chipped in 13, highlighted by 3-of-4 3-pointers.

Walsh’s top individual was Eder Araujo, who came off the bench to post a double-double of 15 points and game-high 10 boards.

In addition to winning the overall rebounding advantage, the Scots shot over 50 percent from the field (31-of-60), connected on nearly every free throw attempt (16-of-18), and committed only 10 turnovers to their hosts’ 16.

Next, Wooster will play another top-rated NAIA team, Georgetown (Ky.) College (7-1), No. 8 in Div. I, hosting the Tigers Tuesday (Nov. 28) at 7 p.m.