Briggs King scored a career-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds as Denison defeated 20th ranked Wooster, 76-72 from Timken Gymnasium in Wooster, Ohio. The win marks the first victory over the Fighting Scots since Feb. 1, 1997. It also runs DU's current winning streak to three games.
Denison held a 37-35 lead at the intermission thanks to seven first half 3-pointers and 14 points from King. In the second half, the Scots took the upper hand early as Evan Pannell's layup with 15:19 to play put his team up 47-39.
Wooster would hold on to its eight point advantage until King scored inside off a pass from Robby Weingart with just over 12 minutes to play. King's bucket would spark a 7-0 run for Denison over the next minute and a half.
With 10 minutes to play it became very clear the Big Red were not going to fade quietly into the night as King drilled another 3-pointer that tied the game at 54-54. With 5:17 left, Denison would take its first lead since the opening ticks of the second half. After a basket by Pannell with 3:53 to play, Denison guard David Meurer would knock down a clutch 3-pointer from the wing to put his team up 65-62.
At the other end, Wooster's Alex Lalonde would try and answer Meurer's triple but missed. Dan Fanelly was there for the offensive board and Wooster would reset. Before Xavier Brown could get to the basket he was fouled by Meurer. Brown would miss the front end, starting a trend that would haunt the Fighting Scots until the final buzzer.
After the Brown miss, Denison's Bret Woolard would make them pay with a jumper down low that gave DU a five-point lead. Wooster would proceed to miss the front end of two more free throw attempts and a steal by Brad Woolard with 2:05 to play would give Denison a chance to add to their lead.
After breaking Wooster's press, Brad Woolard would find King for the back-breaker, a mid range jumper that King cashed with ease. With 1:46 to play Denison was leading by seven. The Fighting Scots would maintain the drama when Pannell drilled a 3-pointer in front of his own bench with 43 seconds to play. With Denison leading 72-68, the Scots would need a Denison slip-up at the charity stripe.
They would send Darius White to the line for the first time all night with 33 seconds to play and the junior would proceed to make both, extending the lead back to six. After two Wooster free throws and a layup by Pannell, The Scots trailed by three with seven seconds to play. Brown would foul Meurer, needing the sophomore guard to miss the pair in order to have a chance to force overtime with a 3-pointer. Meurer put the Denison bench at ease by making his first free throw, setting the final at 76-72.
King was 11-of-15 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. His 26 points led a group of four DU players in double figures. He also led the team in rebounds (10) and assists (4). Meurer followed with 14 points in 22 minutes of action and Bret Woolard added 12 points and six rebounds. Weingart rounded out the leaders with 11 points in 28 minutes.
Denison shot 50 percent as a team and were 9-fo23 from long range (.391). Wooster held a slight 36-35 edge on the glass but shot 43 percent from the field and just 18 percent (3-of-17) from 3-point range. Pannell led Wooster with 25 points while Fannelly added 19 points and 13 rebounds.
The Big Red improves to 13-8 overall and 7-7 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. With the loss, Wooster drops to 16-5 and 10-4 in the NCAC. This is the third win over a nationally ranked opponent for Dension in 2014-15. Their previous wins over ranked teams came versus then No. 18, DePauw on Dec. 3 and then No. 23 Ohio Wesleyan on Jan. 24. The Big Red will look to extend its winning streak to four on Wednesday (Feb. 11) when they host Kenyon College at 8 p.m.