Junior post Claude Gray scored 18 first-half points and added 5 points during a 12-0 second-half run that opened up a 15-point lead, and freshman guard Nate Axelrod went 8-for-8 from the free throw line during the final 2-plus minutes to help Ohio Wesleyan close out a 92-85 North Coast Athletic Conference win over 10th-ranked Wooster on Wednesday at Branch Rickey Arena.

The win moved Ohio Wesleyan into a tie for first place with Wooster in the NCAC standings and completed a regular-season sweep of the Fighting Scots, the Bishops' first 2-game regular-season sweep of Wooster since the 1987-88 season.

Wooster took a 14-9 lead with the help of a 3-pointer by Xavier Brown and a 3-point play by Evan Pannell, and the Scots still led, 21-16, after a Dan Fanelly lay-in with 9:01 left in the first half.

Gray brought the Bishops back from outside, draining 4 3-pointers during the next 2 minutes as Ohio Wesleyan evened the game at 28.

Gray hit a jumper and buried a 3-pointer during the final 2 minutes of the half, turning a 40-39 deficit into a 44-40 lead, and the Bishops would take a 46-42 lead at the intermission.

Wooster closed to within 48-45 on a Fanelly 3-point play less than a minute into the second half.

Ohio Wesleyan answered with a 12-0 run, collecting a lay-in from sophomore wing Ben Simpson, a 3-pointer and a tip-in by Gray, a jumper by junior post Joey Kinsley, and a 3-pointer by senior wing Nick Felhaber that gave the Bishops a 60-45 lead with 14:58 left in regulation time.

Another Felhaber 3-pointer gave the Bishops a 68-54 lead with 12 minutes to play, and Ohio Wesleyan still led, 79-68, on Gray's jumper with 3:46 to go.

Wooster came back with lay-ins by Fanelly and Spencer Williams, narrowing the deficit to 79-72 with 2:49 left.

Axelrod hit 4 free throws and freshman wing Will Orr added 2 more as the Bishops stretched the lead to 86-74 with 1:34 left, but the Fighting Scots had one more run, with Pannell sinking a 3-pointer, Fanelly working for a lay-in, and Pannell following with a fast-break lay-in before Pannell scored off a turnover to bring Wooster within 88-83 with :31 to play.

Axelrod sank a pair of free throws with :28 left, and after Brown misfired on a pair of 3-pointers, junior post Matt Jeske hit a pair of free throws with :07 remaining to seal the outcome.

Gray led the Bishops with 29 points.  Axelrod finished with 19 points, going 13-for-13 from the line, and collected a team-high 10 assists.  Simpson tallied 16 points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds, and Felhaber scored 13 points.

Pannell led Wooster with 22 points and 13 rebounds.