WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster roared out to a 27-8 lead midway through the first half and withstood a Dickinson College surge during the second before securing an 80-54 victory in an NCAA Div. III Men's Basketball Championship second-round tilt Saturday night at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster (24-5), one of the last 16 teams left in the NCAA tourney for the ninth time in 15 years, will next meet Cabrini College (24-5) in the third round next Saturday at a site to be announced. It marks a match-up of the 2012 national runner-up (Cabrini) versus the 2011 national runner-up (Wooster).
Against Dickinson (21-8), the Fighting Scots were clicking on all cylinders early on. Xavier Brown scored six of their opening 16 points, then backcourt mate Doug Thorpe added a 3-pointer for a 19-3 cushion less than five minutes into the action. Wooster's defense helped force four turnovers during that stretch and the Red Devils were 1-for-4 from the field.
The Scots pushed the lead out to 19 through 10 minutes, and later, Thorpe connected on two 3-pointers the last 60 seconds, the second a 50-foot, buzzer-beater to cap a 47-23 half.
In the second, Wooster remained comfortably ahead until Dickinson trimmed a 59-38 deficit to 59-46 in about 90 seconds. The Red Devils were still within striking distance at 65-51 with five minutes remaining and then the Scots closed strong in securing the eventual 26-point win.
The statistics were as one-sided as the final score. Wooster made 53.3 percent of its field goals (32-for-60) and limited Dickinson to 35.7 percent (20-for-56), while also outrebounding its visitors 41-26. The only negative for the Scots were 11 second-half turnovers (16 for the game).
Thorpe finished with a game-high 19 points and three assists, while Brown put 18 markers down in the scorebook. Kenny DeBoer also reached double figures with 11 points, while Jake Mays led all players with six rebounds.
Also of note, Josh Claytor had nine points, DeVaughn Wingard eight, and Alex LaLonde contributed with three blocked shots for the second game in a row.
Adam Honig paced the Red Devils with 16 points on 7-of-15 field goals.