Wooster Into "Sweet 16" Via 73-56 Win Over Centre

Tim Vandervaart elevates over Centre's John Patterson for two of his team-high 18 points.

WOOSTER, Ohio – The College of Wooster limited Centre College to three points during the final eight minutes of the first half, transforming a two-point deficit (21-19) into a 39-24 halftime lead, and moved on in the NCAA Div. III Men’s Basketball Championships with a 73-56 second-round victory Saturday night at Timken Gymnasium.

Wooster (27-3) advances to the sectionals, otherwise known as the “Sweet 16,” for the fifth time in nine seasons but first since 2004 when this year’s seniors were freshmen.

Centre (24-5) led for several possessions in the early going, including by as much as 17-12. After Thomas Britt made a lay-up to put the Colonels ahead 21-19 at the 8:03 mark, the Fighting Scots closed the half on a 20-3 run, highlighted by a Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) 3-pointer right before the buzzer. During that stretch, Wooster scored on eight of 13 possessions, while helping force five turnovers and holding Centre to 1-of-8 field-goal shooting.

The Scots carried that momentum over into the second half, scoring the first nine points for an overall run of 29-3. Defensively, they helped cause three more turnovers and four more missed shots before T.C. Thomason ended the drought. Although it was 48-26 then, the Colonels steadily pulled back within 15 (68-53) at the 2:47 mark.

Following a Centre timeout, Wooster’s Tim Vandervaart (North Canton, Ohio / Hoover) converted a nice feed from Marty Bidwell (Middletown, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) for a lay-up while being fouled. He added the free throw for the three-point play and a 71-53 advantage.

The Colonels did connect on a 3-pointer to make the margin 15 once more (71-56), right at the 2:00 mark, but the Scots’ Devin Fulk (Newark, Ohio / Licking Valley) then sealed it with a jumper, which turned out to be the final points, with 1:34 remaining.

Centre was effective in holding Wooster’s top scorers, James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) and Port in check, as they combined for 19 points – 11 for Cooper and eight for Port – but Vandervaart came up with a team-high 18 points on 8-of-11 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws. Fellow post Evan Will (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) added 10 markers in the scorebook.

The Scots’ defense prevented the Colonels’ standout player, Matt Nestheide, from getting on track, as he ended up below his season average (15.3 ppg) with 12 points on 11 field-goal attempts. Teammate Matt Jacobson did come up with a game-high 20 points.

As a team, Wooster shot 55.4 percent from the floor (31-of-56), becoming just the third opponent of Centre’s in its last 23 games to finish at a rate above .430. The Scots were also above 50 percent from 3-point range (.533; 8-of-15), while the Colonels were under 40 percent overall (.382; 21-of-55), including 8-of-23 on 3-pointers (.348).

In the “Sweet 16,” Wooster will meet up with John Carroll University (21-9), a 79-77 winner against Lake Erie College Saturday night, at a site and time to be announced on Sunday. It will mark the fifth time the two teams have met in the NCAA tourney since the 1995-96 season, including two memorable games this decade – a 77-75 Wooster win in 2003 and a 70-64 John Carroll win in 2004.