Senior post Ben Simpson scored 14 of his 18 points during the second half as top-seeded Ohio Wesleyan narrowed a 21-point second-half deficit to 2 and had the go-ahead shot in the air during the final seconds, but Wooster withstood the Bishop comeback and escaped with a 76-72 win in the championship game of the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

With the win, Wooster receives the NCAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III tournament.  Ohio Wesleyan will find out its playoff fate on the NCAA Division III selection show at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Monday.

Wooster had taken a 58-37 lead on a pair of free throws by Spencer Williams with 11:57 left in regulation time.

The Bishops fought back with an 11-2 run that included a 3-point play by freshman post Grant Gossard back-to-back buckets from Simpson.  A 3-pointer by junior wing Will Orr and a pair of free throws from junior guard Seth Clark narrowed the deficit to 9 points at 64-55 with 5:52 to go, and 3-pointers from Clark and Gossard sandwiched around a pair of Simpson free throws made it a 68-63 game with 4:22 to play.

Orr sank 2 free throws to bring Ohio Wesleyan within 70-67 with 2:38 remaining in regulation time, but baskets by Reece Dupler and Williams stretched the Wooster lead to 74-67 with 1:02 left in the game.

Clark buried a 3-pointer on a fast break to bring the Bishops within 74-70, and after a Bishop timeout, Simpson stole the inbounds pass, scored and was fouled to make it 74-72 at the :47 mark.

Simpson missed the free throw, but the Ohio Wesleyan defense got a stop and Simpson cleared the rebound with :23 to play, giving the Bishops a chance at the lead.  Simpson got a look at a 3-pointer from the left wing, but his shot rattled in and out, and Dan Fanelly controlled the rebound for Wooster with :09 left and sank a pair of free throws for the 76-72 final.

Wooster had broken a 10-10 tie with a 10-2 run that included a pair of baskets by Williams and a 3-pointer from Dupler, and the Scots would lead by as many as 13 points during the half before Clark hit a free throw and a lay-in during the final minute for a 39-30 score at the intermission.

Fanelly opened the second-half scoring with a lay-in and a 3-pointer to make it a 14-point game, and Fanelly would score twice and Mitch Balser would add a 3-pointer during a later 8-0 run by the Scots that opened up a 54-34 lead with 13:54 left in the game.

Simpson led the Bishops with 18 points and 17 rebounds.  Junior guard Nate Axelrod finished with 12 points and 5 assists, Clark scored 11 points, and senior post Erick Bryant added 10 points.

Fanelly led Wooster with 34 points.

Fanelly received the Al Van Wie Award as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.  He was joined on the all-tournament team by Wooster teammate Williams, Ohio Wesleyan's Simpson and Axelrod, Denison's Jett Speelman, and Wittenberg's Cody Phillippi.