The College of Wooster, ranked No. 4 by D3hoops.com, scored just four points the final eight minutes of the game, allowing archrival and No. 25 Wittenberg University to come back for a 76-72 victory Saturday night in Springfield, Ohio, and in doing so, the Tigers took sole possession of first-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings.
With one week remaining in the regular season, Wittenberg holds a one-game lead in the league standings at 13-1 to Wooster's 12-2.
Saturday's finish was a role reversal from the teams' first meeting this season when Wittenberg led by 11 (49-38) with less than nine minutes to play and Wooster closed with a 27-9 stretch to prevail 65-58.
The Scots upped their 10-point halftime lead (42-32) to 14 a couple of times early in the second half at 52-38 and 54-40, but the latter was followed by a quick 11-point run for the Tigers, which made it a three-point game (54-51).
From there, Wooster settled down and built the margin back up to eight a series of times, and it was a 68-61 score after Ian Franks converted a drive around the eight-minute mark. In fact, it remained 68-61 for a couple more minutes until Clayton Black, who keyed the Wittenberg win with a career-high 30 points, broke the drought as one his jumpers in the paint fell.
Unfortunately for the Scots, their offensive woes continued. Over the final eight minutes, they were 0-for-10 from the field (4-for-4 on free throws) with three turnovers.
Wooster's defense held off the Tigers until a Chris Sullivan 3-pointer with just under 3:00 to play gave the hosts a 70-68 lead, their first since fairly early in the first half. Jacob Weide followed with some critical points on an offensive rebound, put-back, and three-point play to make it a two-possession game (73-68).
Franks got to the line on the ensuing possession and made both to pull the Scots within three and halt Wittenberg's 12-0 run. After a Tigers' missed 3-pointer, Bryan Wickiffe did the same to pull within one (73-72) at the 1:47 mark.
Following another defensive stop, Wooster had a chance to retake the lead, but a jumper would not fall and Weide came up with another big basket on the other end, converting a turnaround jumper near the end of the shot clock to make it 75-72 with about 30 seconds left.
The Scots went for two, but a contested drive to the basket with under 10 seconds remaining was off the mark and rebounded by Seth Hill, his career-high 13th board of the contest. After the ensuing in-bounds pass, Black was fouled and he sealed the outcome by making one free throw.
The opening seven minutes featured six ties, and shortly thereafter, the Scots raced ahead, constructing a 10-point lead. Wooster's strong first half was due in part to 13 points from Nathan Balch and 51.6 percent field-goal shooting (16-for-31) with just one turnover.
Statistically, the difference in the game was Wittenberg's offensive rebounding. The Tigers collected 15 as part of an overall 39-31 edge in rebounding, and wound up with a 20-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Individually, the Scots had a very balanced scoring effort with five players reaching eight-plus points, including Balch and Franks with 13 and Wickliffe with 12. Wickliffe had seven rebounds and Franks issued three assists.
Black's 30 came on 10-of-13 field goals, which included his first 3-pointer of the season, and 9-of-13 free throws, while Sullivan added 16 points. Wittenberg's top scoring duo were limited to just 12 points combined in the teams' other meeting. Another key factor for the Tigers was Hill, who also registered a career high in assists (5) to go with his career best on the glass.
Wooster has to regroup quickly, as it will play host to Kenyon College (9-13, 5-9 NCAC) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.