A game-winning 3-point attempt by Doug Thorpe rattled in and out right before the final buzzer, as the No. 6 rated team in NAIA Div. I, Arizona Christian, completed a 62-60 comeback victory against the No. 2 ranked team in NCAA Div. III, The College of Wooster, on Tuesday night in Phoenix, Ariz.
Wooster (8-1) did not trail in the contest until :38 remained when Arizona Christian's (10-0) Talib Uqdah made a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 62-60 edge.
The Fighting Scots proceeded to get four looks at the basket. First, Thorpe misfired on a tying jumper, with Scott Purcell corralling the offensive rebound, and then Kenny DeBoer's go-ahead 3-pointer was off the mark. Again, the ball stayed with Wooster via a team rebound with just a couple ticks left.
The ensuing out-of-bounds play was well executed, as Thorpe got free on the left wing but his shot hit each side of the rim before bouncing out of the cylinder. The Scots retained possession when the ball went out of play with less than a second remaining, and they attempted a lob on the inside, but were unable to get a shot off.
Wooster's late offensive struggles were symbolic of nearly the entire second half, which saw the visitors go cold from the field, hitting just 6-of-26 (.231). In fact, the Scots made just two field goals the last 15 minutes, with the last make coming with a little more than five minutes on the clock.
