Franks’ 27 helps Scots climb over Lil’ Giants in Top-10 showdown

  • brian questel
  • January 12, 2011
  • 251
                        
011511 Scots Promo: Scots, Franks come through in clutch against Wabash Franks’ 27 helps Scots climb over Lil’ Giants in Top-10 showdown By Brian Questel When you are the top-ranked team in the country, every game takes on added urgency. That’s especially the case when it’s a Top-10 showdown, as it was Saturday when The College of Wooster Fighting Scots traveled to Crawfordsville, Ind., to play unbeaten and No. 7-ranked Wabash. In the end, it worked out well for Wooster despite a nearly fatal stumble in the final two minutes. Despite watching a 12-point lead drop to one with 10 seconds to play, the Scots hung on for a 67-65 victory Jan. 8 to improve to 14-0 overall and 5-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference. That put Wooster a half-game up on Wabash (5-1 NCAC) and hand the Lil’ Giants their first loss in 14 games. Wooster is tied now with Wittenberg (9-4) at 5-0 in the conference, with that contest slated for Jan. 22. The rematch with Wabash is Feb. 5, with the Scots on the road at Wittenberg Feb. 12. “This was a good one and a good one to get,” said Wooster coach Steve Moore, who was mindful of 11 conference games left on the schedule, plus the NCAC tournament. “They had a big crowd, a full house. It’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever played in front of at Wabash since they came into the league in 2000. It was exciting.” Too exciting, actually, for the Scots. Leading 27-26 at the half by holding the Lil’ Giants to 32 percent shooting, Wooster outscored Wabash 21-7 in the first eight minutes of the second half to take a 47-3 lead. It was still double digits, 64-50, with four minutes to play and 66-54 with just over two minutes left. “They really started to come after us, picking us up full-court, and we didn’t handle the ball in the last two minutes,” said Moore. “We missed a wide-open layup and that got it started. We fouled right after a turnover and then missed a free throw. A lot of momentum came from them going to the line and putting points on the board with no time going off. If we would have taken care of the ball and hadn’t committed fouls, we could have won by double digits.” Instead, Wabash star Wes Smith hit two free throws to make it 66-63, and after Wooster’s seventh turnover the game, Aaron Zimmerman’s layup cut it to 66-65 with 10 seconds to play. Disaster struck on the inbounds play when the Lil Giants stole the in bounds pass, but that was negated by a Wooster timeout before the ball was inbounded. Matt Fagan split a pair of free throws (4.3 seconds), and Smith’s final 3-pointer caromed off the back of the iron to secure Wooster’s win and tie its record for its best start to a season. “We have to look at it and try to learn from what happened and make sure we take care of the end of the game better,” said Moore. “It’s certainly better to learn when you win a game and than have to lose and learn some things. “I think Wabash is every bit as good as its record. They have a superstar in Wes Smith; they have size and have depth inside with their size. They have a power forward playing off the bench in Derek Bailey who may be more talented than they guy they start. They have two 6-foot-7 centers they rotate and they bring good shooters off the bench. “This is a good Wabash team. Those good victories they had before we played them were not flukes.” Wooster cemented its win thanks to another clutch performance from Ian Franks. The 6-4 senior point guard, whose 3-pointer at the buzzer beat Allegheny to start Wooster’s run at the top of the national rankings, had a 27-point effort (11-of-22 shooting) against Wabash. Franks, a preseason All-American selection, also added 10 rebounds to become the team’s leading rebounder. Those aren’t bad numbers for a player that wasn’t recruited and just showed up on the Scots’ campus. “Do you want me to be real honest?” laughed Moore. “We’re fortunate. He visited, but he was not highly recruited. It’s a tremendous story. In high school he played at a small school and he’s a late-bloomer. He’s probably grown three inches since he’s been at Wooster. He’s a totally different player than when he got out of high school and came here. “I’m from that area and people who saw him play in high school – he’s from South Central and my high school was Monroeville, so they are in the same league. I talked to people who said he was a good player, but they can’t believe what he’s done for us. He’s improved as much as any player we’ve ever had. “I have to admit that … we never saw him play in high school.” His abilities certainly came through against Wabash. “He’s done that time and time again,” praised Moore. “It was another excellent game. He made big buckets and he rebounded well, plus he guarded Wes Smith most of the game, so he did an excellent job on defense. “He rises to a challenge and he’s a real competitor. I think at his best when he has a good challenge.” Despite his status now, it wasn’t like Franks walked into a starting spot at Wooster as a freshman. “It was a gradual thing,” said Moore. “It was not a situation after the first practice where we said, “Wow, we have a special player here.’ He played JV the first half of his freshman year. It was not until he had some JV games where he played well that we said we’d give him a chance. In mid-January when he started to play. We had a home game against Witt and he made some nice plays to help us win that game. Then he started to get into the regular rotation and by the end of the year he was our seventh-man and really contributing.” Franks got his first real opportunity when starting guard Brandon Johnson went down with an ACL tear in the summer prior to Franks’ sophomore year. “We were taking a trip to Italy and Brandon had his original knee injury before the trip,” said Moore. “We played Ian at the point four games in Italy and that’s when we realized he could be really good. He’s kept getting better and really blossomed.” For Franks, Wooster has been a perfect match. “As a senior, I was looking for a place I could go and walk on and play,” said Franks. “I went to a small high school, a Div. IV school, and not a lot of coaches come watch. I heard about Wooster, went for a visit and I liked it. It was important to me to be relatively close to home and I was impressed with coach Moore and the program. Academics were a big thing for me, too.” Once at Wooster, Franks was optimistic about his chances during open gyms. “I wasn’t playing as hard as usual, but I tried to play hard. At the same time, I was optimistic and felt if I played hard, then I felt I’d make it.” That he certainly has. Named the NCAC Player of the Year last year, Franks is shooting nearly 50 percent from the field despite facing fierce defensive pressure and averaging nearly 20 points a game. “It’s good coaching, trying to work hard and get better individually and as a teammate,” said Franks. “The coaches helped me a lot – I’m stronger, better, quicker and smarter, too. That helps. “If teams collapse on me, I try to get the ball to the guys who are open. Whatever helps us win. If it’s me going to the basket and scoring, I’ll do that. If I drive and kick it out, I’m willing to do that, too. “It’s the guys around me,” he stressed. “They set screens and put me in good positions and the coaches help with the plays we run. That’s not to mention the threat to teams helping in the post and helping on drives. We have some really good shooters on the team.” With 14 wins under their belts, Franks and the Scots are looking forward to the rest of the season and protecting that No. 1 ranking. “It’s good in a sense. There isn’t a night we can take off,” he said. “We have to play every single night. Coach Moore talks how teams will do what they have to do and we’ll get their best shot. We saw that (against Wabash) and we saw that against Allegheny. “With this team, I think that helps us and keeps us focused. Everyone is coming at us and if we don’t play hard, we can get beat by anybody.”


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