Isaac Roeder, Tommy Vaughn Jr., Jaiden Cox-Holloway, and Si Kielian erased a six-point College of Wooster deficit in the final 47 seconds to force overtime, then the Fighting Scots' men's basketball team capitalized on opportunities in the extra stanza to beat Ohio Wesleyan University 85-82 on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

A control-your-fate path to the six-team North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament was on the line in Saturday's Wooster-Ohio Wesleyan game, as long as Kenyon College lost to Wabash College. Kenyon did, as Wabash downed the Owls 86-79, meaning Wooster (8-15, 5-9 NCAC) carries a one-game lead for the sixth seed into the final week of the regular season.

Roeder secured an offensive rebound in the final 30 seconds, then found Vaughn Jr. for a 3-pointer that pulled Wooster within 72-69. Next, Cox-Holloway and Roeder successfully doubled Jessee Battle by the Scots' bench, leading to Cox-Holloway taking a clean swipe at the basketball, which stripped Battle from possession. Cox-Holloway immediately fired off a triple after gathering possession, and it was off the mark. However, Ohio Wesleyan could not capitalize due to Quinn Hart missing the front end of a one-and-one.

Wooster worked the ball to Kielian with five seconds left. The Scots' guard took one dribble, got the Bishop defender to blow by on the pump fake, stepped back with the non-pivot foot, and buried the tying 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left.

Battle's desperation three-quarter court winner went straight into Cox-Holloway's outstretched arms at the buzzer.

In overtime, junior Quincy Jones' intense focus gave Wooster the lead. Down 78-77, Vaughn Jr. drove down the lane and dished off to Jones. Jones delivered the fine balance for an off-balance reverse layup with two Ohio Wesleyan defenders right by him.

After Ohio Wesleyan missed its shot, Vaughn Jr. had the shooter's touch on a 3-pointer that rattled out, then in, which gave Wooster an 82-78 lead with 1:40 on the overtime clock.

Wooster's lead grew to 84-80 with 7.1 seconds left, as nobody boxed Vaughn Jr. out on a rebound. That led to an easy uncontested stick back for the first-year guard. Ohio Wesleyan did make a driving layup with 1.8 seconds left to get within two and an Isaac Ward tying 3-pointer from just past halfcourt hit off the backboard at the buzzer.

In the first half, Cox-Holloway's driving layup cut Wooster's intermission deficit to 41-36. He dropped in 14 points in the opening 20 minutes, knocking down 6-of-11 shots from the floor.

Wooster led by as many as eight in the second half, utilizing an 11-2 run to get there. Wooster took the lead on Roeder's pullup that made it 47-46 with 15:52 left in regulation. Cox-Holloway hit 20 points in the game when he upped Wooster's lead to 53-48 at 13:07. Cox-Holloway's fastbreak layup made it a seven-point game on the next possession.

Cox-Holloway matched a season-high with 24 points to lead Wooster. He added six rebounds and three blocked shots. Jones finished with a double-double at 19 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Isaiah Johnson and Vaughn Jr. scored 12 points each and combined for seven rebounds. Roeder led Wooster with five assists and two steals.

Wooster shot 46.7 percent (35-of-75) for the game and had eight turnovers to Ohio Wesleyan's 15.

Battle and Ward scored 20 points each for Ohio Wesleyan. Battle added nine rebounds and seven assists to the stat line, but had six turnovers.

Ohio Wesleyan shot 52.5 percent (31-of-59) for the game.

Should Wooster secure its spot in the NCAC Tournament, the Scots will be the sixth seed. Wooster can finish no higher than sixth as the five teams above the Scots all have at least nine wins with one or two games remaining. Wooster holds a one-game lead for sixth over Oberlin College (11-12, 4-10 NCAC) and Ohio Wesleyan (7-16, 4-10 NCAC) and a 1.5-game lead over Kenyon College (10-14, 4-11 NCAC) entering the final week of the regular season. Kenyon wraps up its conference slate on Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Wooster has two tall tasks ahead of it next week, starting with a 7:45 p.m. home game on Feb. 18 against NCAC-leading Denison University (15-8, 10-4 NCAC). A Denison win over Wooster gives the Big Red at least a share of the NCAC title. Wooster also hosts DePauw University (16-7, 9-5 NCAC) at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21.