Wooster 73, Ohio Wesleyan 65

Feb. 2, 2008

Junior wing Mitch Noggle (Dublin/Coffman) hit a 3-pointer to bring Ohio Wesleyan within 59-58 with 6:57 left in regulation time, but Wooster held on for a North Coast Athletic Conference win over the Bishops on Saturday at Wooster.

Ohio Wesleyan had whittled a 7-point second-half deficit to a single marker, but Wooster got a pair of baskets from Evan Will to stretch the lead back to 5 points.

Senior post Jesse Jean (Alexandria, Va./Hyde (Conn.) School) scored to bring the Bishops within 63-60 with 2:49 left, but James Cooper hit a 3-pointer with a 1:44 left to give Wooster a 66-60 lead, and after another Jean basket, Brandon Johnson hit a 3-pointer to make it 69-62 with :52 left.

Ohio Wesleyan opened the game with 3-pointers by senior post Dustin Rudegeair (Yellow Springs) and senior wing Brian Cafarella (Westerville/North) for a 6-0 lead 90 seconds into the action, but Wooster answered with an 18-2 run that included a pair of 3-pointers by Will and trifectas from Johnson and Cooper. Will's second 3-pointer gave the Fighting Scots an 18-8 lead with 12:28 left in the first half.

The Bishops re-took the lead with a 13-2 burst, with junior wing Kyle Holliday (Van Wert) converting a pair of 3-point plays, sophomore guard Robby Gardiner (Dublin/Coffman) hitting a 3-pointer, and junior wing Kyle Miller (Delaware/Hayes) sinking a jumper from the lane. When sophomore post Brent Pleiman (Russia) followed with a jumper from the paint, Ohio Wesleyan led, 21-20, with 9:50 to go in the half.

Johnson and Cooper followed with jumpers for Wooster, and another Will 3-pointer capped a 10-3 burst that gave Wooster a 30-24 lead, and the Scots would take a 36-32 advantage into the locker room at the intermission.

After Will opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer, Jean hit a pair of baskets to bring the Bishops within 39-36, and a Holliday 3-pointer brought Ohio Wesleyan within 41-39 less than 3 minutes into the period.

Holliday made it a 42-41 game with a pair of free throws at the 15:11 mark, and Pleiman answered a Craig Elam lay-in with one of his own to bring the Bishops within 44-43 with 14:14 left in regulation time.

Wooster got a 3-pointer from Devin Fulk and baskets from Will and Elam to open up a 52-45 lead, but the Bishops came back with 5 straight points by Rudegeair to make it a 2-point game, and the lead was a single point after Noggle's 3-pointer made it 59-58.

Jean led the Bishops with 15 points, and Holliday finished with 13 points and led the Bishops with 3 assists. Rudegeair grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

Will led the Fighting Scots with 27 points, Johnson scored 17 points and Cooper added 13 points.

Box Score