A game-winning 3-point attempt by Doug Thorpe rattled in and out right before the final buzzer, as the No. 6 rated team in NAIA Div. I, Arizona Christian University, completed a 62-60 comeback victory over the No. 2 ranked team in NCAA Div. III, The College of Wooster, on Tuesday night in Phoenix, Ariz.
Wooster (8-1) did not trail in the contest until :38 remained when Arizona Christian's (10-0) Talib Uqdah made a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 62-60 edge.
The Fighting Scots proceeded to get four looks at the basket. First, Thorpe misfired on a tying jumper, withScott Purcell corralling the offensive rebound, and then Kenny DeBoer's go-ahead 3-pointer was off the mark. Again, the ball stayed with Wooster via a team rebound with just a couple ticks left.
The ensuing out-of-bounds play was well executed, as Thorpe got free on the left wing but his shot hit each side of the rim before bouncing out of the cylinder. The Scots retained possession when the ball went out of play with less than a second remaining, and they attempted a lob on the inside, but were unable to get a shot off.
Wooster's late offensive struggles were symbolic of the entire second half, which saw the visitors go cold from the field, hitting just 6-of-26 (.231). In fact, the Scots made just two field goals the last 15 minutes, with the last make coming with a little over five minutes on the clock.
Wooster started the game hot, accounting for the initial nine points as the visitors quickly went up by double figures (12-2). Later in the half, the Scots used a 9-2 run to take a 40-26 advantage into the break.
The second half began similar to the first, as a 10-5 stretch put Wooster up by 19 points (50-31). The Firestorm's comeback started on the next possession, scoring the first two of their 13 unanswered points to make it 50-44 around the midway point of the half.
Thorpe halted that run with a 3-pointer from the right wing, however, Arizona Christian scored seven in a row this time, which pulled the hosts within 53-51.
The Scots seemingly regained control with a Xavier Brown free throw, two from Dan Fanelly, and a Josh Kipfer put-back that pushed the margin to 58-51.
The Firestorm, though, responded with another 7-0 run and tied the game (58-58) for the first time.
DeBoer followed by earning a trip to the free throw line and sinking both, as did Mateus Oliveira on the other end, making it 60-60 at the 2:36 mark.
Neither team scored again until Uqdah's decisive free throws.
Wooster's poor shooting second half resulted in a .350 rate for the game (21-for-60), compared to Arizona Christian's 41.8 percent (23-for-55). The Scots did outrebound the taller Firestorm, 42-38.
Individually, Brown paced Wooster with 13 points and DeBoer and Thorpe tallied 11 apiece.
Rod Hudson was Arizona Christian's top scorer with 11 points.
The Scots return to competition when they host the 51st annual "Mose" Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic on Dec. 29-30. In pre-determined match-ups, Wooster will play Thiel College (3-3) and Hanover College (6-2).