Maddie Moran

Sports Editor

Last Wednesday, Oct. 30, Wooster traveled to Columbia, South Carolina for their exhibition game against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks. The Gamecocks’ coach, Lamont Paris ’96, hosted the Scots as a class of 1996 Wooster alum, playing for 3 years on the same team as Wooster’s own head coach, Doug Cline ’95. 

“First of all, we want to thank 1996 College of Wooster Alum & University of South Carolina Head Men’s Basketball Coach Lamont Paris for presenting this wonderful opportunity for our Men’s Basketball Program,” said Cline. “It was an experience that our players and coaching staff will always remember. NCAA Division III institutions do not get the opportunity to play a school from the SEC very often.”

The Scots kept the score relatively close, 86-60, despite taking on a tough Division I opponent as their first game of the season. Their strong defense led to a fluctuating lead in the beginning of the game, going point-for-point with South Carolina. The last lead that Wooster saw came from a 3-pointer by Isaiah Johnson ’26, 23-20.

The game stayed tied at 23 until the clock fell just under 8 minutes left in the first quarter when the Gamecocks took control, going on a 8-point scoring run. Ashton Price ’25 responded to this run with 5 points of his own, bringing the score to 31-28. From there, South Carolina went on another run, scoring 13 points to Wooster’s 4, ending the first half of the game, 44-32.

The Scots came out hot after halftime with Jamir Billings ’25, JJ Cline ’25, Jaiden Cox-Holloway ’26 and Price taking control of the ball, outscoring the Gamecocks, 12-2. This brought Wooster within 2 of the Gamecocks’ 46 points. South Carolina replied with a strong offense of their own, starting with 3 consecutive 3-pointers, the first made by Myles Stute ’25 while the other 2 came as back-to-back buckets from Arden Conyers ’27. 

Unfortunately, the Scots’ shots just weren’t dropping after this and the fouls were piling up, giving the Gamecocks more chances to shoot unimpeded by defensive efforts. Wooster ended the game with 3-pointers from Price and Cox-Holloway and impressive work at the rim by Nick Everett ’25. EJ Kapihe ’27, Breckman Oakley ’28 and Isaac Roeder ’26 also added to the Scots’ scoring effort, putting up 6, 4 and 2 points, respectively. 

Price, Billings and Everett proved themselves all around players, leading both Wooster’s offense with 14, 11 and 9 points, respectively, and the defense with a combined 14 rebounds and 6 steals. Wooster’s field goal percentage rivaled that of South Carolina, trailing only by 2.2 percent, but did come up short in overall field goal attempts, 69-57.

“I was really proud of our team. We really competed and played well against a team that finished one game away from an SEC Championship last season,” said Cline. “It was a great learning experience for our team. Hopefully that opportunity will help our team as we continue to prepare for the upcoming season.”

Catch the Scots at their home opener against Yeshiva University this Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.