WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's basketball team took a commanding lead halfway through the second half, then did not let Denison University come close to threatening down the stretch in Friday's convincing 79-54 win over the Big Red in the semifinals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Timken Gymnasium.
With its win, Wooster (21-5) has a rematch with Wabash College (20-7), 75-67 winners over DePauw University (18-9) in Friday's first semifinal, one week after Fighting Scots' senior Turner Kurt drilled a game-winning, buzzer-beating, one-seed clinching three-pointer in a 75-74 regular season finale win over the Little Giants. Tipoff for Saturday's championship game at Timken Gymnasium is at 4 p.m. Of note, Wooster is playing for the tournament title for the 29th time over the 38 NCAC Tournaments and the 24th time over the last 26 tournaments.
Wooster closed out Denison with a 23-12 stretch that ended with senior Najee Hardaway's turnaround jumper in the paint upping the Scots' lead to 63-43 at the 8:04 mark. Wooster's lead did not dip below 18 the rest of the night, a stark contrast to recent games, which saw Wabash overtake Wooster before Kurt's game-winner in the regular season finale after trailing by 13 and Oberlin College get within three after the Scots had a 15-point lead in the NCAC Tournament quarterfinals.
Junior Elijah Meredith's lights-out shooting sparked the Scots in the second half. His triple at the 18:50 mark upped the lead to double digits, and he put the Scots up by double figures again with another triple, this time swishing home a corner three-pointer following a Hardaway assist with 17:15 to go. Junior Nick Everett's layup on Hardaway's fourth assist of the night put the Scots up by double digits for good with 12:43 remaining.
Defensively, Kurt blocked a Ricky Radtke shot during the 23-12 stretch, as did junior Carter Warstler, with the athletic guard closing the distance when Darren Rubin hoisted up from range. Later, sophomore Jamir Billings simply ripped the ball from the grasp of Will Hunter.
First-year EJ Kapihe was the glue that held Wooster's lead together in the first half. The forward was inserted with 7:36 to go due to both Kurt and Everett having two fouls. He played the rest of the stanza while primarily going up against Radtke, Denison's top forward. Kapihe contributed four points and a rebound during the stretch, and even blocked a Radtke shot within a minute of subbing in. Billings did a nice job involving the reserve offensively, leading him to both layups, the second of which gave the Scots' point guard his sixth assist of the night.
Hardaway and Meredith scored 15 points apiece to lead Wooster, and they combined to shoot 12-of-19 on the day. Everett followed with 11 points, and the NCAC's top shooter by field-goal percentage continued to up his mark with a 5-of-6 showing from the floor. Billings dished out nine assists, scored seven points, secured six rebounds, and had two steals. Hardaway added six assists for his third game with at least six over the Scots' last four outings.
Wooster shot a season-high 57.4 percent from the floor (31-of-54), was 7-of-18 on three-pointers, and went 10-of-12 at the line. Wooster's 32 rebounds were 12 more than Denison's, and the Scots' bench outscored the Big Red by 20.
Radtke scored 21 points, while Rubin followed with 14.
Denison shot 42.9 percent (21-of-49) for the game, was 4-of-23 on three-pointers, including just 1-of-13 after halftime, and went 8-of-11 at the line. The Big Red had 12 turnovers, two more than the Scots.
Wabash saw its 19-point lead get trimmed to two by its archrival, with the teams meeting on a neutral court for the first time in series history. Six Little Giants were in double figures in the scoring column, with Ahmoni Jones' 15 leading the way. Wabash's forward had a double-double with 12 rebounds. Sam Jacobs from DePauw led all scorers with 20 points.
Wabash shot 41.9 percent (26-of-62), was 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) on three-pointers, and went 12-of-17 at the line. DePauw was at 43.1 percent (25-of-58), but was just 4-of-18 on three-pointers, with leading scorer Elijah Hales firing up six of the misses.
Wooster is now 60-10 all-time at Timken Gymnasium in the NCAC Tournament, 29-4 in the semifinals, and 9-2 against Denison. Wooster and Wabash will meet in the championship game for the fourth time. The Scots currently hold a 2-1 lead.
Ticket prices for Saturday's 4 p.m. championship game are $10 for adults (includes senior citizens and College of Wooster faculty and staff members), $5 for children (18-and-under), $5 for holders of a NCAC Guest Pass, and $5 for students with a student ID card from a non-NCAC institution. Students who currently attend a NCAC institution are admitted free of charge, but must present their student ID card at the ticket booth.
Wooster season tickets are not valid for NCAA and NCAC Tournament games.