Senior Nick Everett became the third Fighting Scot to reach 1,000 collegiate points this season, and the sixth-ranked College of Wooster men’s basketball team surged late to hold off the University of Pittsburgh Bradford 114-96 on Sunday afternoon at Timken Gymnasium.
Wooster, now 11-0, saw its 21-point E.M. “Mose” Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic lead trimmed to 92-88 with 6:32 remaining in the game. The Scots responded with a 22-8 run, starting with junior EJ Kapihe‘s layup at 6:13. Yet, the most impressive stretch started with senior Jamir Billings‘ fourth steal of the night at 3:57. The program’s all-time steals leader poked the ball away from Jamarion Butler, and that led to Billings having a breakaway fastbreak layup.
Wooster poured in 62 points in the opening half, marking the 17th time in program history hitting 60, and the first since dropping 65 on Allegheny College in 2017. Everett’s 16 points led Wooster. He scored his 1,000th collegiate point at the charity stripe with 4:32 to go before halftime to join Billings and Ashton Price as Scots to hit the 1,000-point milestone this season. Everett’s free throws started Wooster’s 11-0 run, which put the Scots up 59-38. Billings made a second-chance layup following an offensive rebound from junior Isaiah Johnson. Later, Billings capped the run with a pullup jumper.
Kapihe led Wooster with a career-high 24 points. The junior went 8-of-11 from the floor and a perfect 8-of-8 at the line. He added six rebounds and had one of Wooster’s five blocked shots.
