In a battle of top-10 teams (D3hoops.com), No. 1 ranked College of Wooster began the second half with a 15-5 run to build a double-digit lead and later withstood a furious rally that saw No. 7 Wabash College quickly cut a 14-point deficit with less than four minutes remaining down to one before the Fighting Scots hung on for a 67-65 North Coast Athletic Conference victory at an over-capacity Chadwick Court (1,721) Saturday in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Wabash (13-1, 5-1 NCAC), which had trailed 64-50, appeared to have a good look at a go-ahead basket during the final moments. After the Little Giants' Aaron Zinnerman converted a drive to the basket to make the score 66-65, Wooster (14-0, 5-0 NCAC) turned the ball over on the ensuing in-bounds pass and a Wabash pull-up jumper from the right elbow glanced off the back iron. However, the officials ruled the clock did not start, thus nullifying that sequence.

When the Scots in-bounded again, they successfully got the ball into Matt Fegan's hands, who was quickly fouled with 4.3 seconds remaining. Fegan buried the first free throw for a two-point margin, but missed the second and it was rebounded by Wes Smith. The Little Giants' standout took it himself up floor and pulled up from about 30-35 feet, but the last-second shot was just a tad long, glancing off the back iron.

Neither team led by more than four points during a back-and-forth first half, with Wooster eventually taking a 27-26 advantage into the break.

Fegan started the second half with a 3-pointer, followed by a steal during Wabash's possession. Justin Hallowell then worked his way to the free throw line where he made a pair, and the Scots' defense came up with two more stops, the second leading to a three-point play for Ian Franks. Suddenly, Wooster was up by nine (35-26).

The Little Giants interrupted the run with five of the next seven points to pull within two possessions (37-31), only to see the Scots account for the next five points, including a Franks 3-pointer for a 42-31 lead. A couple minutes later, Ryan Snyder knocked down a critical 3-pointer, just the fourth this season for the freshman guard, and that made it a 14-point cushion (47-33).

Wooster continued to hold a relatively comfortable margin, including getting it up to 14 again entering the final four minutes (64-50). In fact, it was still a 12-point game (66-54) around the two-minute mark.

The last two minutes were not good for the Scots, as they committed three turnovers, misfired on a lay-up as well as the front end of a one-and-one opportunity before Fegan's trip to the line. On the other end, Smith accounted for seven of Wabash's last 11 points.

Statistically, the difference in the game was field-goal percentage as Wooster made just under 50 percent (.479; 23-for-48) while helping inducing the Little Giants into 33.3 percent shooting (21-for-63). Wabash won the battle of the glass, 38-36, just the third time this season the Scots have been outrebounded.

Wooster was led by two of its seniors, Franks and Bryan Wickliffe, as they each recorded their second-highest scoring outputs of the season. Franks finished with a game-high 27 points and 10 boards for his second double-double of the season, while Wickliffe posted 15 points, most of which occurred at the free throw line (9-for-14).

Smith also recorded a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and also tallied five steals and three blocked shots.

The Scots return home for a conference match-up against Oberlin College (1-13, 0-5 NCAC) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.