WOOSTER, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers shaved a 21-point deficit to single digits in the closing moments but the rally fell short as the College of Wooster picked up a 71-63 victory in the championship game of the 2014 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Tournament.
The Scots, the No. 1 seed and host team in the NCAC Tournament after winning the regular season title by three games, improved to 25-3 overall on the 2013-14 season. Wooster completed a three-game sweep of the season series with the Tigers for the second straight year and evened the all-time series between the two winningest NCAA Division III men's basketball programs at 54-54.
Of most pressing concern, of course, is the fact that eighth-ranked Wooster also locked up the NCAC's automatic berth into the 2014 NCAA Division III Tournament. Wittenberg, ranked 22nd nationally, fell to 21-7 with the loss and now will have to sweat out the selection process of the NCAA Division III Tournament committee as a candidate for an at-large "Pool C" berth.
The NCAA Division III Tournament selection show will take place at 12:30 p.m. Monday, March 3, live on www.ncaa.com.
Wooster led from start to finish in the championship game, jumping on top 10-2 in the first three minutes. Wittenberg repeatedly rallied, keeping the Scots at arm's length throughout the first half before Wooster took a 36-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Scots broke the game open, however, with a 22-7 run to open the second half. After Jalen Goodwin drained a three-pointer at the 10:15 mark, the Scots led 58-37 and were able to do just enough to hang on the rest of the way as Wittenberg pulled to within eight points in the final minute.
The Tigers were paced by senior post Scott Masin (New Carlisle, Ohio/Bethel), who scored all 12 of his points in the second half to go along with six rebounds, and sophomore forward Alex Fultz (Batavia, Ohio/Glen Este), who continued his tremendous play off the bench with 13 points and four rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Junior wing Sam Collins (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) and senior guard Zack Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford) added nine points apiece, with Leahy matching Masin's team-high rebounding total. As a team, Wittenberg shot 38.6 percent from the field and held a 36-35 rebounding advantage.
Wooster answered with 46.6 percent shooting from the floor, including a game-changing 9-of-20 performance from three-point range. The Scots also committed just eight turnovers in the game, compared to 11 for Wittenberg.
After the game, Masin and Leahy were announced as members of the All-Tournament Team. Wooster's Kenny DeBoer, who poured in 37 points in two games on the weekend, picked up Tournament MVP honors.