Wooster 75, Ohio Wesleyan 67

Dec. 4, 2004

Sophomore post Ben Chojnacki (Medina) drilled a 3-pointer to give Ohio Wesleyan a 67-66 lead midway through the first overtime period, but Tom Port answered with a 3-pointer and Andy Van Horn followed with a 3-pointer as Wooster scored the game's final 9 points to hold off Ohio Wesleyan in North Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Chojnacki's 3-pointer gave the Bishops a 67-66 lead with 2:56 left in overtime, but Port hit a 3-pointer on Wooster's next possession, giving the Fighting Scots a 69-67 lead with 2:30 to go. Van Horn's 3-pointer came with 1:05 on the clock and increased the Wooster lead to 72-67, and Tim Vandevaart added a lay-in and Justin Bradley sank a free throw in the last minute to account for the 75-67 final.

Chojnacki had given the Bishops a 61-60 lead with 1:58 left in regulation time, and the Bishops were poised to add to the lead when Wooster's Tom Port was called for an offensive foul with 1:27 to go, but the Bishops misfired and Wooster got the ball back.

The Fighting Scots took the lead with :26 to play when Blake Mealer dished the ball across the lane to Matt Schlingman, who sank a lay-up to give Wooster a 62-61 edge.

Ohio Wesleyan turned to Chojnacki for the last possession, and the Bishop sophomore was fouled by Mealer on a drive to the hoop with :06 left. Chojnacki hit the first free throw, tying the game at 62-62, but his second was off the mark. Wooster's 3-point try at the buzzer was off line, and the game headed into overtime.

Wooster started the game by racing to a 6-0 lead on a 3-pointer by Kyle Witucky and 3 points from Schlingman, and the Scots stretched the lead to 10-2 just over 3 minutes into the action.

The Bishops then caught fire from outside, coming back on the strength of bombs by sophomore wing Ted Uritus (Columbus/Watterson) and junior guard Ross Rybarczyk (Oberlin/Elyria Catholic). Ohio Wesleyan eventually took the lead at 18-17 on a 3-pointer by freshman post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) with 11:43 left in the first half.

Ohio Wesleyan didn't stop there, though, building the lead to 11 points at 32-21 on Rybarczyk's 3-pointer with 5:35 left in the first half. The Bishops still led, 39-28, with 2:18 to go before Wooster shaved the deficit to 6 points at the break on Mealer's lay-in and Port's 3-pointer with :03 on the clock.

Chojnacki scored in the opening minute of the second half to give the Bishops an 8-point lead, but Wooster eventually pulled even at 56-56 with 3:32 left, setting up the final frantic moments.

Chojnacki led the Bishops with 28 points, matching his career best. Rybarczyk and Uritus each contributed 10 points. Rudegeair led Ohio Wesleyan with 8 rebounds and junior wing Andy Warnock (Delaware/Hayes) had a team-high 4 assists.

Schlingman led the Fighting Scots with 21 points, and Port finished with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Witucky led Wooster with 5 assists.

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