The College of Wooster men's basketball team's bid to "march to March" started with a 74-66 win over Oberlin College on Saturday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (6-12, 3-6 North Coast Athletic Conference), which started the second round of league play uncharacteristically tied for eighth in the conference, is now tied for sixth with the win. The top six teams make the NCAC Tournament the last week of February, with the winner of the tournament earning the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Div. III Championship, which starts the first weekend of March.

Wooster's 15-0 run at the end of the first half and start of the second was the difference on Saturday. Senior EJ Kapihe's stick-back tied Saturday's league clash at 34, then senior Isaac Roeder muscled up one of his short-range jumpers over Oberlin's (9-9, 2-7 NCAC) defense. Next, sophomore Si Kielian knocked the ball away from Zach Bronson and finished the fastbreak layup at the other end. Wooster's lead was 41-34 at halftime, as Roeder knocked down a triple in the final 35 seconds.            

Coming out of halftime, sophomore Breckman Oakley stole the ball from Milan Micanovic and capped the fastbreak with a finger-roll lay-in. Wooster's lead hit 47-34 on the next possession as senior Jaiden Cox-Holloway knocked down a triple.

Later, Oberlin closed within nine with 5:33 to go, but Wooster answered right back. A Roeder pass led Cox-Holloway to the rim for a layup that made it 67-56 with 4:34 to go. Next, Roeder knocked down a turnaround jumper from just outside the low block to extend Wooster's lead back to 13, then Jones did likewise two possessions later on a layup that left his hand just before the shot clock buzzer went off. Oakley knocked down three free throws in the final 30 seconds to keep Wooster three possessions ahead of Oberlin.

Roeder led four Scots in double figures with 17 points. The senior went 7-of-10 from the floor. First-year Tommy Vaughn Jr. followed with 14 points and was 6-of-11 on the afternoon. Cox-Holloway dropped in 11 points and led Wooster with eight rebounds. Oakley rounded out the double-digit Scots with 10 points, and he passed out six of Wooster's 15 assists.

Wooster shot 55.1 percent (27-of-49) for the game, which included a strong 63 percent (17-of-17) mark in the opening half.

JJ Gray and Rob Magner scored 15 points each for Oberlin. Sam Kamenko finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

The Yeomen struggled from deep, hitting just 3-of-23 3-pointers. Oberlin was 23-of-31 from inside the arc.

Next, Wooster will have to contend with John Carroll University's (14-4, 6-3 NCAC) press. Tipoff from the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center on Wednesday, Jan. 28 is set for 7:35 p.m.