Men's Basketball
Men's Basketball: #14 Wooster keeps feisty Big Red at bay
Chris Eberst scored 13 points to lead Denison in their 18-point loss to #14 Wooster.
Date: February 13, 2008
Location: GRANVILLE
Nearly five minutes into Wednesday's contest between 14th ranked Wooster and Denison University the Big Red found themselves down 12-0 and fearing a repeat of last month's 40-point blowout at Timken Gymnasium in Wooster.
Over the next eight minutes of the first half the Big Red made it clear that a blowout victory for the Fighting Scots would not be in the cards. First things first, DU hit their initial field goal of the night at the 13:20 mark off a back-door layup by Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) and they proceeded to go on a 14-1 run over the next five minutes capped off by a Luther 3-pointer 7:55 mark of the first half.
Almost as quickly as Denison's 14-1 run surprised the Scots', Wooster All-American James Cooper took matters into his own hands and saw to it that his Scots would not fall to victim to the spunky Big Red. After the Luther trey, Cooper knocked down his second 3-pointer of the game and would follow with two more in the half leading the Fighting Scots on a 24-12 run to head into the locker room with a 39-28 lead.
In the second half Denison kept the lead between 15 and 18 points most of the way but a pair of layups and back-to-back dunks by Brandon Johnson and Rober Melick gave Wooster a quick 8-0 run and a 21-point lead which would seal up an eventual 82-64 win for the Scots.
Denison was led by senior Chris Eberst (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) and Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Twp.) who both scored 13 points. Luther added nine points and four rebounds while senior Brian Elder (Granville, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) chipped in eight points off the bench.
Cooper paced Wooster with 16 points while going 6-of-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range. Evan Will added 13 points and eight rebounds and Bryan Wickliffe scored 12 points. Senior Devin Fulk scored 10 points and had seven boards to round out Wooster's top performers.
DU shot 41 percent from the field and hit eight 3-pointers but was outrebounded 45-29. Wooster outscored Denison 23-11 in second chance opportunities but the DU bench outscored the Scots 30-23.
Denison falls to 2-20 overall and 2-10 in the North Coast Athletic Conference while Wooster improves to 19-3 and 12-1 in conference play. The Big Red will travel to Hiram College on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip-off with the Terriers.