WOOSTER – Danyon Hempy said that up until Saturday’s game against Denison, he had never made a game-winning shot – except for the one time he did it in an AAU game.
Chances are The College of Wooster’s 6-foot-5 sophomore will never forget the late guided missile he fired at the Big Red in Timken Gymansium. Hempy’s jumper from the top of key with 3.7 seconds to go gave the Fighting Scots a 73-70 victory and their 17th triumph of the 2017-18 season against just four losses.
"It feels great. It feels great," said the former standout at River Valley High in Waldo. "The play was set up for Reece (Dupler), but they doubled him when he was driving in. He found me open, made a good pass, and I just knocked it down."
After a chorus of "Sweet Caroline" from the overjoyed Wooster crowd during Denison’s ensuing timeout, the Big Red’s Garrett Collier took an in-bounds pass, a couple of dribbles, and then launched an off-target desperation bomb from half court.
Game over – a thriller that allowed the Scots to maintain sole possession of second place in the rigorous North Coast Athletic Conference behind unbeaten Wittenberg. Saturday’s win avenged the Scots’ 75-61 loss at Dension on Nov. 29. Coach Steve Moore’s team has now gone 14-2 since that setback and owns a conference mark of 11-3.
Given the earlier loss to Denison and the Big Red’s 83-62 pasting of Ohio Wesleyan this past Wednesday, Moore and his determined roundball disciples knew they were up against a formidable foe that now stands at 11-10 overall and 7-7 in the NCAC.
"There is not a night off in this league," Moore said. "You’ve gotta be ready every night."
Ready the Scots were, especially in the first half, when they led by as many as 11 points and were sinking 3-pointers at 6 of 9 (67 percent) accuracy.
Those long-range bullets in the opening half came in rapid-fire order as a series of five straight 3-pointers helped the hosts establish a 31-20 lead with 8:27 left until intermission.
The fireworks began with a Spencer Williams trey from the top of key at the 12:39 mark, followed by a rainbow from Hempy from the left wing. Off the bench, Trenton Tipton canned a pair of 3’s – one from the left side and another from the right. Blake Blair, also a non-starter, added yet another triple and Wooster, which had only three turnovers the first half, was rolling despite the fact that Denison didn’t seem fazed.
Wooster shot 61.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, but Denison kept within range by sinking 53.8 percent of its field goal attempts.
The Big Red clawed its way back into the fray by sinking two wild 3-pointers – both as the shot clock wound down to the final second. A pair of tough buckets by Wooster’s Williams and a deuce by 6-7 Eric Bulic on a Hempy assist were big in delaying the Denison comeback.
With 6:53 left, Hempy was called for a foul against Jack Coulter as the shot clock expired and Hempy’s fourth personal would send him to the bench until the 2:45 mark.
Denison had taken its first lead at 66-65 at the 2:52 mark on a layup by Matt Doyle. An Alex Baptiste free throw tied it at 66 and the board was knotted again at 68 and 70 as Hempy and Baptiste put in key buckets to answer the Big Red challenge.
Denison’s Doyle missed a 16-footer and the carom went out of bounds to Wooster with 46.3 seconds to go. The Scots called a timeout in preparation for the final ticks.
Hempy’s game-winner aside, one of the biggest plays of the game occurred when Williams missed a jumper with 22 seconds left, but teammate Bulic kept the ball alive undernearth and Baptiste ultimately seized possession with 13.3 seconds remaining. Wooster again called a timeout.
In-bounding the ball from the sideline across the floor from the team bench, Hempy tossed the rock in to Spencer, who got it to Dupler, who tried to penetrate the paint for a possible game-winner. The Big Red, however, collapsed on Dupler, leaving Hempy open up top for the dagger 3-ball with 3.7 left.
"The plan was to isolate Reece on the left side there, about 15 or 16 feet from the basket, and then let him go one-on-one, which he does so well," Moore said of his team’s strategy at the end. "We thought he could drive and maybe get fouled, but Denison really helped out on defense. Reece made a smart play, found the open man Danyon, who knocked it in."
Hempy finished with 17 points and five assists. Baptiste added 15 points, but just as important were his nine rebounds and five blocked shots. Williams totaled 14 points and Dupler ended with 10.
Moore talked about Baptiste’s contributions to the victory.
"He’s going up stronger on his inside shots," Moore said of the 6-7 senior from Allonnes, France. "He’s taking his time, he’s using pump fakes on his inside shots to get the defense off-balance. I think this is the best game Alex has played for us."
"I just try to do whatever I can to help the team," Baptiste said. "I know once the other guys get past one of my teammates, they don’t expect the big French guy to stop them."
In addition to the bench play of Blair and Tipton, Wooster also got five quality minutes from the always-eager senior backup, Ari Stern.
Denison’s 6-4 senior Maxwell Siwik finished with a team-best 21 points after scoring 15 in the first half. Doyle added 17 points and Coulter chipped in with 10.
"We’re a good basketball team and we can play with anybody," said Denison skipper Bob Ghiloni. "I’m disappointed. They made the last shot and we didn’t."
Saturday’s victory was one of many close games for the Scots this season.
"I think our players are very determined. I think they know they can get it done on the defensive end with effort and concentration," Moore, now with 817 career wins on his resume, said. "I think a lot of these close victories have been because of the tough defense played. But you also have to be able to make shots when you need to.
"We’ve got to concentrate on the next opponent," Moore added. "We can’t have a letdown when we go on the road at Allegheny on Wednesday because of today’s very emotional win. We can’t look past that game."
Wooster’s next home game is next Saturday against league rival Ohio Wesleyan.