By Matt Florjancic

D3sports.com

PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- Lake Erie and Wooster were the top two seeds in the Great Lakes Region when the 2007 NCAA Tournament field was announced. However, the possible matchup between the upstart Storm and perennial power Wooster did not come to fruition.

The battle for regional supremacy was spoiled by John Carroll, who knocked off the Storm and advanced to the “Sweet Sixteen.” Since the loss to John Carroll, Lake Erie went in search of national recognition by compiling a challenging non-conference schedule. After a three-point loss to Earlham at the start of the season, Lake Erie has turned things around.

Following victories against Alma and Denison, the No. 8 ranked Fighting Scots arrived for a battle that could have major postseason implications when this year's bracket is released.

When the Storm withstood a second-half rally from the Fighting Scots, Lake Erie claimed one of the biggest wins in school history with an 86-84 upset.

“We let it slip away a little bit,” said Wooster coach Steve Moore. “You also have to give Lake Erie credit for doing a real good job. Our guys didn't lose their poise when we were behind and they didn't lose their poise when we came back and took the lead.

“Lake Erie is a very good basketball team,” he added. “They're well coached. They really work hard on defense and they have some difficult guys to defend.”

The loss dropped the Scots to 2-1 in a season that started with victories over Farmingdale State and St. Thomas of Minnesota. With the win, Lake Erie improved to 3-1 overall before heading into conference play on the road against Hilbert on Wednesday.

“I think this was a great win for our guys to be able to hang tough [and] play in that pressure-packed environment,” said Lake Erie coach Cliff Hunt. “Those situations that you're in right there you can't really duplicate that or simulate that in practice. It was really a good coaching situation for us to pick out some things we've got to get better at.

“It just says a lot about the class that the Wooster program has that they were willing to come to our place and play us here because [Coach Moore] knew it would be a good game for both programs,” added Hunt. “They know exactly what they want to do to try and win the game. We were just able to hang in there and get some plays even though we had a couple guys under the weather.”

The Scots had an opportunity to tie or possibly win the game after Lake Erie's Ryan Benchwick split a pair of free throws with three seconds remaining. After burning three timeouts near mid-court, Wooster set up for one final shot at the basket. The pass was tipped off the rim into the arms of senior Devin Fulk. The senior guard, who scored 23 points and corralled 14 rebounds, had a clear look at the basket, but as the buzzer sounded, the ball spun out of the cylinder and fell to the floor.

“That was a frightening thing for them to even get a shot off,” Hunt said. “Consequently, you have a lot of different theories about how we're going to play that situation. Normally, we play denial defense with a floater. We went to something a little different than what we normally do because we thought putting somebody on the ball would help, but in the end, they got it in and they got a look and that wasn't good.”

“I just took coach's advice,” said junior Derrick Thornton, who finished with a game-high 26 points. “We switched all screens and we switched all crosses. After they burned a couple timeouts, they had to throw it in the air because they had the five-second count against them.

“He had a great look at it,” Thornton said of Fulk's last-second shot. “If he'd have set his feet, I think it would have [gone] in, but he shot it off one foot. It gives us great confidence because I think that team is a top D-III caliber team. If we can beat them, we can compete with the best of them.”

Fulk was 8-for-14 from the floor and connected on a trio of three-pointers. With the game on the line, Wooster knew it would be difficult to come up with a clean look at the basket.

“It was a good shot in that situation,” Moore said of Fulk's attempt. “A lot of times in those situations, that's the kind of shot that happens. The ball gets tipped and it's loose. If you have alert players, they can come up with the loose ball and Devin did.

“We would have taken a three-pointer if it was a good one, but in that situation with less than two seconds left, it was tough to get somebody open for a three because they were switching all the screens,” he continued. “We felt it didn't have to be a three, so we just wanted to get a good shot.”

Wooster rallied in the second half against Lake Erie. After trailing at halftime 43-31, Wooster made a charge at the Storm.

Behind the strong front court play of Evan Will and Bryan Wickliffe mixed in with some long range shots from Fulk, the Scots erased the large deficit. They went on a 40-21 run over the first 13 minutes of the second half, which swelled their lead to seven with 7:25 remaining in the contest.

“It wasn't a good first half for us,” Moore said. “We were stagnant on offense, didn't move real well without the ball and had some turnovers that hurt us. Our offensive efficiency [in] the first half just wasn't very good at all.

“There was still a long way to go and we didn't want to panic,” he added. “We wanted to keep our poise and I think our players certainly responded to that. Offensively, we came out and scored on all but three of our first 14 possessions in the second half and built that lead. I was really pleased to see our players respond that way.”

Despite the drastic turnaround, Lake Erie forced Wooster to win or lose the game at the free throw line. In the game's final minutes, Wooster connected on just five-of-nine attempts from the line, including a pair of missed free throws with ten seconds remaining that would have given the Scots the lead.

“Our guys played a lot of minutes,” Moore said. “They could have been tired, but we have a lot of confidence in our guys. They'll bounce back and come through in those situations in the future.

“I think playing tough opponents early in the season is definitely a help,” he added. “You get tested and you find out what you need to get better at. That's why we like to play a tough non-league schedule. We like to play against good teams.”