Senior Jaiden Cox-Holloway scored The College of Wooster men's basketball team's first 12 points in Sunday's 74-68 loss at Western Connecticut State University.
 
Cox-Holloway went on to finish with 23 points, five shy of the career-high. The Fighting Scots' lone returning starter from a season ago hit 5-of-11 3-pointers as part of a 7-of-13 showing from the floor. He led the team with 10 rebounds and passed out four assists.
 
Cox-Holloway's outside shooting resulted in all of Wooster's first dozen points of the contest, and the Scots led 12-8 at the 16:04 mark when the senior's third triple dropped through. He was fouled behind the arc during his 3-of-3 start and hit all three free throws to make it 6-2 early.
 
Wooster struck for an 8-0 run late in the first half to take a 38-33 lead with 1:42 before halftime. Senior Isaiah Johnson stole a Jahlyl Morgan pass, and that led to a fastbreak Johnson-to-Cox-Holloway layup. Senior Isaac Roeder knocked down a pair of 3-pointers following the fastbreak bucket to cap the run.
 
The Scots cooled off in the second half, making just one-third of their field goal tries after hitting half of them in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Wolves' pressure helped keep the Scots from settling in on offense, as Wooster turned the ball over 30 times, including 16 after halftime. Six of the miscues came during Western Connecticut's decisive 9-0 run that enabled the hosts to open a 68-58 lead with 3:29 to go.
 
Roeder stopped the run with his third 3-pointer of the game, then Johnson blocked a Tayejon Lynch 3-pointer. Sophomore Breckman Oakley's driving layup with 1:47 on the clock had Wooster within 68-63. Roeder followed with two free throws on the next possession, and a 3-pointer from sophomore Si Kielian had Wooster within a possession in the final 30 seconds at 71-68.
 
Roeder followed Cox-Holloway in the scoring column with 15 points. He was 4-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Roeder and senior EJ Kapihe had six rebounds each.
 
Nick Boyce led a quartet of Wolves in double figures scoring with 15 points. Marcel Henry was the big man inside with 13 points and nine rebounds, six of which were on the offensive glass.
 
Wooster shot 42 percent (21-of-50) for the game and outrebounded Western Connecticut 44-33.
 
Western Connecticut shot 41.5 percent (27-of-65) on the afternoon, had 34 points off Wooster's 30 turnovers, and scored 40 points in the paint to just 14 for the Scots.
 
Wooster is now 0-2 on the young season. Western Connecticut is 1-0.
 
Wooster is off until the program's annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic, which starts on Friday, Nov. 21. Otterbein University (1-0) hosts State University of New York at Brockport (1-0) at 5:30 p.m., while Wooster plays State University of New York College at Geneseo (0-1) at 7:30 p.m. Fans can get free admission with the donation of two canned or boxed food items for People to People Ministries' food bank. The program is also hosting its annual Al Van Wie/Wooster Rotary Classic Youth Skills Clinic on Sunday, Nov. 16 from 2-4 p.m. at Timken Gymnasium. The clinic is open to boys and girls in grades 3-8 and admission is boxed or canned food items for People to People Ministries.