Wooster’s win marks the 500th collegiate coaching victory for Steve Moore (500-164; .753) and he also becomes the Scots’ all-time winningest coach (413-99; .807), surpassing legendary “Mose” Hole (412-181; .695), who built the program into a power from 1927-58.
Kalamazoo, picked to finish last in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, gave the Scots, who were ranked No. 3 in the nation in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, all they could handle. It was a 10-point game (62-52) with five minutes remaining before Wooster went on a 13-4 tear (75-56), fueled by an old-fashioned three-point play by Evan Will as well as 3-pointers from Kyle Witucky and Brandon Johnson.
During the first half, there were six ties and five lead changes. The Scots took the momentum into the break, though, with eight unanswered points, seven of which came from James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South), including a short jumper right before the buzzer to make it 41-33.
Wooster extended its lead to 18 twice early in the second (52-34, 55-37), but the Hornets slowly crept back into it, outscoring the hosts 13-5 over an eight-minute period.
Four Scots finished in double figures, led by Cooper’s 18 points. Witucky tossed in 17, including five 3-pointers, while Tim Vandervaart notched his fifth career double-double with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Also, Tom Port chipped in a dozen tallies.
Kyle Konwinski and Damon Krohn produced 13 and 12 points, respectively, for Kalamazoo, which knocked down 10-of-22 3-pointers (.455) as a team.
Friday’s opener was a nip-and-tuck battle throughout, with neither team leading by more than seven following St. Thomas’ 42-35 lead at the halftime break. In fact, there were 17 ties overall.
Wis.-Stout began the second half with a 10-3 run to even the score (45-45), and later, went ahead by as much as 71-65 with 3:23 to play. The Blue Devils were unable to put away the Tommies, who actually retook the lead at 74-73 but then needed an Isaac Rosefelt tip-in with just over one second showing on the clock to send the game to overtime.
Tied 76-76, St. Thomas (Minn.) carried that momentum into the extra session, as it took leads of 78-76, 80-78, and 82-80. Wis.-Stout, though, scored the next six points, starting with a Greg Chaisson 3-pointer at the 1:17 mark and followed by a pair of free throws via Terry Farmer (86-82). Rosefelt converted a reverse lay-up with 7.6 seconds left to pull within two (86-84) only to see the Blue Devils’ Adam Chandler seal it with 5-of-6 free throws.
Chandler, a point guard, paced Wis.-Stout’s four double-digit scorers with 20 points, while Chaisson corralled a game-high 10 boards.
For the Tommies, who got all but three of their points from their starters, Bryan Schnettler led the way with 22 points, including a tournament-tying record of 6 3-pointers.
The consolation game between Kalamazoo and St. Thomas (Minn.) is slated for Saturday at 6 p.m., followed by the championship between Wis.-Stout and Wooster at approximately 8 p.m.