There are more ways to affect a basketball game than just by scoring.

Every team needs a player or two like that and the College of Wooster has found its guy in junior Trenton Tipton.

The Union Local High School graduate has become the Scots’ glue guy in his role as a reserve for a team that’s about to embark on yet another NCAA Division III Tournament, starting tonight.

“I think toward the beginning (of the season), I was still trying to find my role,” Tipton said. “I really needed to define what I was going to do for the team and then several games in, I started to find where I was going to fit in and have played consistently since then.”

Tipton has been a steadying force for a team that is sitting at 23-5 entering tonight’s first-round game against Baruch College, which is located in New York City.

“From the film we’ve broken down, we know that we’ll need to be disciplined,” Tipton said. “They’re very athletic and get after it. We’ll need to play good, sound basketball and be at our best.”

The other half of the Wooster bracket finds Hanover College against Wheaton, Ill. The Wooster game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. tip.

Tipton and the Scots had a watch party Monday when the NCAA announced the pairings. Though they won their league in the regular season and owned 23 victories, there were still some nerves because their fate was in the hands of the committee.

Wooster, which is playing in the national tournament for the 17th straight season, fell in the NCAC championship game last weekend — on its home court — to Wittenberg, 79-75.

“We felt like we had a good chance with the resume we had, but without the automatic bid, there are never any guarantees,” Tipton said. “There are 20 or so at-large bids. We had a good idea we’d get in, but we still had to wait and see.”

The celebration was calm about making the field, but when they realized they could play two more games on their homecourt is when the real excitement set in.

“(Hosting) was unexpected, to me, anyway,” Tipton said. “To get the chance to keep playing and play at home is really nice.”

Finding a silver lining in the loss to Wittenberg, Tipton explained that the Scots can learn a lot from that loss, which could prove beneficial as the tournament opens.

“Losing to a rival is tough, but we see a lot of areas in which we need to improve,” Tipton said. “To beat good teams, we need to continue to improve and we’ve spent a lot of time this week in practice and looking at films.”

Tipton has made only four starts, but he’s appeared in 27 games and averages 21 minutes a game.

He averages 7.6 points, which ranks sixth on the team. He also yanks down four rebounds a game, which is fourth on the team. He leads the team in 3-point shooting percentage at 47 and he’s passed out 34 asssits and recorded 19 steals.

“I realize I am not going to be the first scoring option, but I can definitely provide a consistent role,” Tipton said. “There have been times in games when we’ve needed some big shots, big rebounds or a key defensive stop and the coaches have trusted me to be on the floor in those situations.”

Tipton, who is embarking on his third NCAA Tournament, has seen a steady rise in his minutes and production as he’s climbed the ladder in his career.

“This has definitely been my best season yet,” Tipton noted. “I have earned more trust than ever from the coaches and my teammates. Plus, I’ve also been playing with the most confidence since I’ve been here. Combine those and it results in better play.”