With the score tied at 59-59 with 3:31 to play, Rodney Mitchell drove to the basket, scored, and was fouled. He made the free throw to give Wooster a 62-59 lead, but the Scots would not make another field goal and didn’t score again until a couple of meaningless free throws late.
John Carroll (26-5) missed on its next possession, giving Wooster the ball back with a three-point lead. Kyle Witucky (Zanesville, Ohio / Zanesville) had a look at a 3-pointer from the right wing, however, a defender came flying at him out of nowhere, and it came up short.
With 2:49 remaining, Peter Koch drove down the left side of the lane and scored a runner, cutting the lead to 62-61. Tom Port missed a short jumper for the Scots on their next possession, and with 2:25 left, Mike Grogan canned a 3-pointer to give John Carroll a lead (64-62) that it would not relinquish.
Grogan was the star for the Blue Streaks, as he ended up 6-of-9 from 3-point range on his way to a game-high 20 points.
Wooster (26-4) struggled to get a good shot on its next possession, and a desperation 3-pointer did not touch the rim, as the Scots turned the ball over on a shot-clock violation with 1:39 to play.
John Carroll opened up a two-possession lead when Drew Salata got free for a lay-up with 1:04 left. On the other end, Port took two shots for Wooster in the lane, but neither would fall, and the Scots were forced to foul with 43 seconds remaining.
The Blue Streaks did not shoot well from the foul line in the final minute, converting on only 4-of-8, but Wooster was unable to score until Blake Mealer hit two free-throws with 8.1 ticks on the clock.
The Scots appeared to have taken control of the game early in the second half, as they outscored John Carroll 15-6 over the first five minutes to take a 52-39 lead with 14:52 left. The Blue Streaks slowly chipped away, however, and eventually tied the game at 56-56 with 7:05 to play.
After its initial run to start the second half, Wooster went cold from the field. In fact, the Scots made only three field goals in the last 10 minutes of the game and scored only 12 points in the final 14:52.
The first half was back and forth, as the lead changed hands 13 times and there were six ties. A long 3-pointer by Mitchell with three seconds left gave Wooster a 37-33 lead heading into the break.
Individually, Port led the Scots with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Mitchell closed out his career with 15 points and six assists. PJ McCloud had a team-high nine rebounds for Wooster, which outboarded John Carroll 39-28.
For the Blue Streaks, the only other player to finish in double figures was David Gibbons with 12 points.
Statistically, the Scots shot 39 percent (20-of-51) from the field, including just 29 percent (8-of-28) in the second half. John Carroll, on the other hand, was a 12-of-26 in both the first and second halves (46 percent).
The Blue Streaks will face the winner of the Wis.-Stevens Point/Lawrence winner, being played on the West Coast tonight, in their first national semifinal appearance on Friday (March 19).