Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference contest between The College of Wooster men's basketball team and Wabash College was a tale of two halves, and it was the Little Giants prevailing 89-80 at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster shot 63.3 percent (19-of-30) in the second half, which included a 5-of-8 mark from downtown, to outscore Wabash 54-41. However, the Little Giants went 20-of-32 from the floor for just shy of 63 percent in the opening 20 minutes to claim a 48-26 halftime lead.

Senior Jaiden Cox-Holloway's 22 points all came after halftime. The forward went 8-of-12 from the floor, 4-of-5 on 3-pointers, and had seven rebounds in the second half.

Wooster's up-tempo press was effective late, as the Scots outscored the Little Giants 27-16 in the final 6:50. Senior Isaac Roeder was fouled twice and pulled Wooster's deficit to under 20. Later, first-year Tommy Vaughn Jr.'s driving layup cut the deficit to 10 at 80-70 with just over a minute remaining.

Wooster was within nine in the final minute on a Cox-Holloway 3-pointer, then Vaughn Jr.'s driving layup made it a nine-point game a second time. Cox-Holloway's free throws with about 20 seconds remaining had Wooster within eight, and that was the difference again when his pull-up 3-pointer dropped through in the final five seconds.

Vaughn Jr.'s success driving to the basket accounted for a large part of Wooster's offense in the first half. The first-year dropped in 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. On the other end, eight Wabash first-half 3-pointers factored heavily into the Little Giants opening a commanding lead just minutes into the game.

Cox-Holloway's 22 points were one off a season-high and it marked his fourth 20-point game of the season. Vaughn Jr.'s 18 points matched the collegiate-best. They combined to shoot 16-of-26 on the day. Roeder added 14 points, while senior EJ Kapihe scored 12 off the bench. Cox-Holloway led Wooster with nine rebounds.

Wooster shot 48.4 percent (30-of-62) for the game and was 7-of-22 on 3-pointers.

Luke Elispermann's 19 points led four Wabash players in double figures. Colton Stowers added 17 points, 12 of which came on triples. Gavin Schippert secured 11 rebounds to lead all players.

Wabash shot 52.6 percent (30-of-57) for the game, but did struggle at the charity stripe, making just 16-of-28 for 57.1 percent.

Wabash is now 10-4 with a 4-1 record in NCAC action. Wooster's record dipped to 4-11 and 1-5 in league play.

Next, Wooster plays Ohio Wesleyan University (5-9, 2-3 NCAC) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 17 at Timken Gymnasium.