Wooster Defeats Wittenberg in NCAC Tournament Finals

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio - Most of the more than 2,300 fans in attendance at Saturday's North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament championship game left simply shaking their heads. They had just witnessed one of the amazing performances by an NCAA Division III team, turned in by the second-seeded and sixth-ranked College of Wooster Fighting Scots as they walloped first-seeded and fifth-ranked Wittenberg University, 100-71, on the Tigers' home court.

Wooster improved to 24-3 overall with the win and avenged two regular season losses to the Tigers. The Scots won the tournament for the ninth time overall, second year in a row and fifth time in the last six seasons. The victory earned Wooster the NCAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Wittenberg, on the other hand, now must sweat it out until Sunday night's selection broadcast. The Tigers saw their 20-game win streak come to an end as they fell to 24-4 overall. It was Wittenberg's ninth appearance in the NCAC Tournament championship game and seventh runner-up finish.

The Scots jumped on top quickly, allowed the Tigers to climb back into the game late in the first half and then essentially crushed Wittenberg's spirit with a stunning 11-0 run going into the locker room, capped by a three-pointer by Tom Port at the buzzer. The run was fueled by three Wittenberg turnovers in the final 2:55 of the half. Wooster was nothing short of amazing in the opening 20 minutes, hitting 65 percent from the field (17-of-26), 69 percent from three-point range (9-of-13) and 100 percent from the free throw line (4-of-4).

If it wasn't the perfect game, it was the perfect first half, one in which Wittenberg could only counter with 38 percent shooting from the field. Wooster never let up in the second half, taking advantage of Wittenberg's poor three-point shooting (4-of-21 in the second half and 7-of-30 for the game) to run the margin as high as 36 points. Wooster shot 58 percent from the field in the second and also made 11-of-12 free throws. And the Scots owned the boards as well, snaring 38 rebounds to 32 by Wittenberg.

The 100-71 margin was Wittenberg's worst home loss since a 105-71 defeat against Akron in 1955. In the long, illustrious history of the Wittenberg/Wooster rivalry, the 29-point margin was the largest for the Scots since the first meeting between the two schools in 1912 - a 59-12 win. The largest margin in the series overall - which includes 102 games - was a 98-59 Wittenberg victory.

Wooster placed three players on the all-tournament team - senior guard Rodney Mitchell, junior forward Blake Mealer and Most Valuable Player Tom Port, a sophomore forward. The Scots were led by Port's 22 points, four rebounds and three assists. Mealer was unstoppable in the paint, dropping in 19 points and nine rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Sophomore point guard Kyle Witucky was tremendous as well, hitting for 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, five rebounds and seven assists. Senior guard Ryan Snyder added 12 points and four assists off the bench and Mitchell finished with 10 points, four assists and three steals, coming off his career-high 27 points in the semifinals against Ohio Wesleyan.

Wittenberg picked up 19 points and seven rebounds from senior forward Peter Walker (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier), 13 points and six rebounds from senior guard Rod Emmons (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) and 10 points from sophomore forward Kenny Brady (Reading, Ohio/Reading).