WOOSTER, Ohio – In a battle of preseason conference favorites, The College of Wooster of the North Coast Athletic Conference outlasted the Ohio Athletic Conference's Baldwin Wallace University 76-71 in a back-and-forth affair on the opening night of the Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic Friday at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster (2-0), ranked No. 8 in the preseason D3hoops.com top-25 poll, will face fifth-ranked Wheaton (Ill.) College, a 72-47 winner over Spalding University in Friday's earlier game, in the finals of the 20th annual tournament on Saturday at 6 p.m.
With the Fighting Scots clinging to a 72-70 lead, Baldwin Wallace (1-1) attempted a deep 3-pointer that was off the mark and Wooster's 5-9 senior guard Doug Thorpe came down with the rebound underneath the basket while being fouled with 9.0 seconds to play.
Thorpe converted both ends of the one-and-one to put the Scots up by two possessions (74-70), and after the Yellow Jackets split a pair at the line at the 5.3 mark, Xavier Brown put the finishing touches on the win with two free throws, which put him over the 30-point mark (31) for the second time in his career.
The game featured 14 lead changes and 14 ties.
In the first half, Wooster started out ahead, including as much as 17-10. Baldwin Wallace took the momentum via a 15-4 run for a five-point advantage (26-21), and Wooster regained the lead at 28-26 before the teams exchanged it a number of times, including Thorpe's drive to the hoop right before the buzzer that gave the hosts a 39-38 lead.
During the second, the Scots again stretched it out to a seven-point margin a couple of times, 59-52 and 61-54, followed by the Yellow Jackets making a run, this time tying it at 63, 68, and 70.
Thorpe put Wooster in front 72-70 with under 2:00 to play, followed by a Dan Fanelly steal. The Scots were unable to knock down a couple of good looks from 3-point range, but thanks to Brown's offensive board, they were able to run down the clock, and the ensuing defensive sequence resulted in Baldwin Wallace's long 3-point attempt.
Wooster's lack of turnovers (6) and eight steals on the other end as well as its 15-of-16 performance at the free throw line (.938) were key statistics in the game, while the Yellow Jackets' 10-of-22 3-point shooting (.455) was a bright spot for them.
Brown's 31 points included 11-of-11 free throw shooting, the best performance at the line by a Wooster player since Nathan Balch also went 11-for-11 against Bethany (W. Va.) College in the 2010 Al Van Wie/Rotary Classic.
Thorpe scored 18 points, plus had five assists without a turnover, while Fanelly posted 13 points, six rebounds, and three steals, team highs in the latter two categories.
Tyler Ferrell paced Baldwin Wallace with 18 points, while Jaron Crowe had 13 and seven assists.
In the opening game, Wheaton utilized a 16-point, 17-rebound performance from Nate Haynes, plus 22 points and five assists courtesy of Tyler Peters to roll past Spalding by 25 points.
On Saturday at 4 p.m., Baldwin Wallace-Splading will precede the Wheaton-Wooster match-up.