WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster, No. 16 in this week's D3hoops.com top-25 poll, put five players in double figures while scoring a decisive 92-64 triumph over Hiram College during Wednesday night's North Coast Athletic Conference match-up at Timken Gymnasium.
The 28-point margin was somewhat surprising as the two teams entered Wednesday with matching 2-2 league records, and the opening eight minutes were played just about even as Wooster (12-2, 3-2 NCAC) owned a slim 17-16 lead at that point.
Then, the Fighting Scots produced a 24-6 stretch that Hiram (9-5, 2-3 NCAC) never recovered from. The run began with 3-pointers by Xavier Brown, Matt Fegan, Evan Pannell, and Fegan again over five Wooster possessions. That made it a 10-point game at 29-19, and two more 3-pointers, this time by Jalen Goodwin and Justin Hallowell, capped the 7:25 stretch, which added up to a 41-22 cushion.
The Scots expanded the lead to 52-29 by the break, capped by a Jake Mays dunk on a nice feed from Xavier Brown right before the halftime buzzer.
During the second stanza, Wooster's advantage only dipped below 20 four occasions on its way to the win.
The Scots were hitting 63.6 percent of their field goals (21-for-33) at halftime and went down slightly to 56.3 percent for the game (36-for-64), highlighted by 10-of-21 3-pointers (.476). Other statistics of note included Wooster recording season highs in both assists (22) and blocked shots (7), while outrebounding the Terriers 43-29.
The five Scots to hit double digits were Josh Claytor, Hallowell, Brown, Fegan, and Ryan Snyder. Claytor led the way with 18 points on 9-of-10 field goals and he also notched a game-high five assists, while Hallowell made 3-of-4 3-pointers and Fegan 3-of-5 en route to 14- and 11-point nights, respectively.
Brown matched Fegan's 11 in the scoring column and Snyder broke out with 10 points. Additionally, Kendal Sherrod provided a late spark with six points during the final four minutes.
Jamaal Watkins and Andrew Wiegand were the bright spots for Hiram with 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Wooster, after capping a five-game homestand, now hits the road for two, starting with its first-ever conference contest against DePauw University (9-5, 3-2 NCAC) on Saturday at 3 p.m.