Wooster Earns 17th NCAC Tournament Title - Mar 1, 2020
Third-seeded Wooster (21-7) captured the 2020 NCAC Men's Basketball Tournament title after knocking off top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Wittenberg (26-2) by a 87-63 margin on Saturday afternoon at Pam Evans Smith Arena in Springfield, Ohio. As tournament champions, the Fighting Scots have earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament, which will open with first and second round games next weekend on campus sites. Wooster jumped out of the gate with a 7-0 lead, thanks to a three from junior Trenton Tipton (6'5''-F) (St. Clairesville, OH/Union Local) and a pair of baskets from senior Danyon Hempy (6'5''-G) (Walso, OH/River Valley). The Tigers battled back to tie the game at 12 after James Johnson (6'6''-F) (Cincinnati, OH/Roger Bacon) connected on a layup with 10:43 remaining in the half. The two teams were still locked up with under two minutes in the half, tied at 32, when a Tipton three and a Keonn Scott (6'1''-G) (Fort Lauderdale, FL/Cardinal Gibbons) bucket extended the lead to five, 37-32. Wittenberg senior Connor Seipel (6'6''-F) (Columbus, OH/Groveport Madison) scored as the buzzer went off to make the score 37-34 at the break. After halftime, the Fighting Scots came out on a 22-11 run in the opening 10 minutes to go up 59-45. The lead was pushed to 20 points, 67-47, after a pair of Hempy free throws with 8:03 remaining in play. The Fighting Scots would go on to take the game, 87-63. After recording 29 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals in the championship game, Wooster's Hempy collected the Al Van Wie Award as the tournament's most valuable player. In the three tournament games combined, Hempy scored a conference tournament record 90 points, pulled in 11 rebounds, dished seven assists and recorded two steals. He also scored his 2,000th career point in the game with his first basket in the second half.
NCAC Tournament Final: Wittenberg - Wooster 63-87 NCAC Tournament Semifinals: Wittenberg - Oberlin 67-47 Wooster - Denison 74-62
Courtesy of northcoast.org
Tags : TRENTON TIPTON, THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER, NCAA3 BASKETBALL
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