Baldwin-Wallace, which avenged its 94-78 loss to the Fighting Scots in the 2005 NCAA Tournament (also played at Timken Gym), will battle a fresh Lycoming College squad, coming off a 94-75 victory versus Thiel College, in the title game Friday night, which will be preceded by Thiel-Wooster at 5:30 p.m. It marks the first time the Scots will be in the consolation of their “Mose” Hole tourney since 1985.
The Yellow Jackets (9-1), who were unable to convert on last-second possessions both at the end of regulation and the first overtime, finally pulled away in the second extra session. Tori Davis made his 19th and 20th field goals of the game – all part of a career-high and tournament-record 44-point night – putting Baldwin-Wallace seemingly comfortably ahead 107-102.
Evan Will, playing in place of Tim Vandervaart, who had fouled out at the beginning of the second overtime, then buried an open 3-pointer – just his third this season – to pull the Scots (9-1) within two (107-105). However, the Yellow Jackets’ Tyler Sekerak answered on the other end with a runner in the lane and he later iced it with a couple of free throws to make it 112-106 with 23.3 seconds remaining.
The equally-matched teams exchanged the lead 12 times, in addition to nine ties, throughout the 50 minutes.
It went back-and-forth during the first half, with James Cooper connecting on an off-balance shot from just inside the arc to give Wooster a 50-49 lead at the break.
In the second half, the Scots held a six-point lead on four occasions before Baldwin-Wallace turned a 75-69 deficit into a 79-75 lead with 10 unanswered points. During that stretch, Wooster’s offense went a combined 0-for-9 from the field, including a missed breakaway lay-up, and turned it over five times.
The Scots had to play catch-up the rest of the way. Behind 86-81 with 1:48 remaining in regulation, Tom Port drove for back-to-back lay-ups, and after one free throw by the Yellow Jackets, found Andy Van Horn underneath for another lay-up, which tied it 87-87 with 26.8 left. Vandervaart then blocked a potential game-winning shot.
Davis scored four points to help Baldwin-Wallace out to a 93-90 lead in the first overtime, but Wooster responded with five in a row, including a Kyle Witucky 3-pointer. Then, it was tied at 95 and 97 before both teams missed out on opportunities in the final 50 seconds.
All in all, Davis established career-highs in scoring and in rebounding (17) for himself and set tourney records for scoring and field goals made (20). He was complemented by fellow starters Brendan Schuler and Sekerak, who combined for five 3-pointers as well as individual totals of 18 and 15 points, respectively.
For the Scots, Port hit the 30-point mark (30) for the third time this season and matched a career-best with 15 rebounds, while Vandervaart also finished with a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds). Brandon Johnson put a season-high 15 markers in the book before fouling out. Witucky contributed 14 points and five assists, and was turnover-free prior to the second overtime, while Will chipped in 11 points.
Lycoming (7-4) used a 26-4 run early in the second half to pull away from a pesky Thiel team during Friday’s opener. Jonathan Pribble filled up the stat sheet with 30 points, including 5-of-7 3-pointers, and 14 rebounds for the Warriors and teammate Brad Musser became the school’s career leader in assists (363) with nine helpers, while the Tomcats got 23 points off the bench from James Beedle.