WOOSTER, Ohio – After warding off a furious rally by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater that saw a 16-point margin at the 3:20 mark dip to four with :49 remaining, The College of Wooster is headed to the sectional round of the NCAA Div. III Men's Basketball Championships, more commonly referred to as the "Sweet 16," as the Fighting Scots prevailed 87-78 Saturday night at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster (25-5), in the sectional semifinals for the sixth time in 12 seasons but first since 2007, next faces Guilford College (28-2), the No. 3 ranked team in the D3hoops.com top-25, on Friday, March 12, at a location and time to be announced. The Scots are currently No. 17 in that poll.
At the final media timeout, Wooster held a seemingly comfortable 74-58 lead, but just as it did the previous evening, No. 8 ranked Wis.-Whitewater (23-6) made a late run. One stretch saw the Warhawks score seven unanswered points in just 14 seconds, as following a DJ Dantzler lay-up, they forced turnovers shortly after in-bound passes, the first resulting in a lay-up and the second a rainbow 3-pointer from Dupree Fletcher. That sequence transformed the score from 80-69 to 80-76, still with 1:05 to play.
Wis.-Whitewater fouled before the next in-bounds pass and Matt Fegan dropped in two free throws, making it 82-76. The Warhawks pulled back within four on an offensive rebound and lay-up by Dantzler at the :49 mark, and then the Scots had another miscue on the ensuing in-bounds play.
Fortunately for Wooster, the Wis.-Whitewater lay-up attempt that followed rolled around the rim and off and Justin Hallowell secured the rebound. He was quickly fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws (83-78).
On the next offensive possession, the Warhawks were unable to convert again, with Nathan Balch collecting the rebound and then sinking 2-of-2 free throws to all but seal the win as that made it a three-possession game with just :21 remaining.
Wis.-Whitewater led for the majority of the opening 10 minutes before the Scots used an 8-1 stretch, taking a lead (26-22) that they would never relinquish. Wooster later added a mini 7-0 run to go ahead 38-29 and it was 40-34 at the halftime break.
Early in the second, the Warhawks cut their deficit to five a couple of times – 40-35 and 47-42 – only to see the Scots pull out to a double-digit advantage each time. From the 13-miute mark until Wis.-Whitewater's aforementioned rally, Wooster owned an 8-to-16-point cushion.
Statistically, the Scots shot just under 50 percent from the field (.479; 23-for-48) and made the most of their frequent trips to the charity stripe. Wooster was 35-for-43 (.814), marking the fourth-most free throws made in a single-game in school history.
The Warhawks finished with a rate of .433 from the floor (29-for-67) and struggled at the free throw line to a tune of 15-for-27 (.556). The two teams ended up dead even in rebounding at 37 apiece.
Ian Franks was the difference, scoring 30 points for his third 30-point game of the season. He did it in a highly-efficient manner, shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 9-for-10 on free throws, while Balch contributed the first double-double of his career, recording 15 points and a personal-best 11 boards.
Brandon Johnson added a season-high 15 points and five steals, while Hallowell chipped in with 10 markers in the scoring column.
For Wis.-Whitewater, Fletcher had 20 points, but it took him 18 field-goal attempts (6-for-18) to get there, and Dantzler was a spark off the bench with 18.
